Introduction

The essays that make up this volume begin from a set of shared premises. Involuntary unemployment is a normal feature of capitalist economies. There is no “natural” rate of unemployment or NAIRU (nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment), so it is unnecessary for millions of workers to remain jobless in order to maintain price stability. Unemployment and underemployment are associated with tremendous social and economic costs, including loss of output and income, financial insecurity, and a host of social problems, including crime, family disruption, physical and mental health problems, drug addiction, and many others. Since the private sector will never create enough jobs to employ all those who want and need to be working, it is the responsibility of government to use policy to promote true full employment, which means zero involuntary unemployment. Conventional fiscal and monetary policies are incapable of attaining and maintaining true full employment with price stability. The policy approach known variously as “Employer of Last Resort” (ELR), “Public Service Employment” (PSE), or the “Job Guarantee” (JG), if properly designed, can provide for true full employment.