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Government as Employer of Last Resort: Full Employment without Inflation

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  • L. Randall Wray

Abstract

Since, WWII, it has been the stated policy of the U.S. government to simultaneously pursue high employment and stable prices. Paradoxically, neither accepted economic theory nor practical experience appears to indicate that high or full employment is even possible with stable prices. In this paper, we argue that stable prices and truly full employment are indeed possible. In fact, the Humphrey-Hawkins Act sets the goalpost too low; we argue that the government can guarantee a zero unemployment rate, defined as all who are ready, willing, and able to work at the going wage will be able to find a job--only those unwilling (or unable) to work at the going wage would be left without work (which are not normally counted as unemployed). The government does this by acting as the employer of last resort, offering to hire all who show up to work at a fixed wage. In doing so, the government ensures that all who are ready, willing, able to work at that wage will be provided a job. At the same time, by setting this wage, the government will provide a price anchor that will impart price stability to the system, that is, we will show that a true full employment policy is not, in itself, "inflationary" and indeed could reduce inflationary pressures under some conditions. Further, the full employment policy would help to reduce economic fluctuations (the "business cycle") through a powerful built-in automatic stabilizer feature.
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  • L. Randall Wray, 1997. "Government as Employer of Last Resort: Full Employment without Inflation," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_213, Levy Economics Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_213
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Warren Mosler, 1995. "Soft Currency Economics," Macroeconomics 9502007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Knapp, Georg Friedrich, 1924. "The State Theory of Money," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number knapp1924.
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    1. ¿Ingreso universal o trabajo universal?
      by Lucas Llach in La ciencia maldita on 2009-08-17 05:02:49
    2. Some Links & More on Ireland
      by duncanseconomicblog in Duncan's Economic Blog on 2009-12-08 16:19:15

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    Cited by:

    1. Jon D. Wisman & Michael Cauvel, 2021. "Why Has Labor Not Demanded Guaranteed Employment?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(3), pages 677-696, July.
    2. Georgios Argitis & Stella Michopoulou, 2011. "Are Full Employment and Social Cohesion Possible Under Financialization?," Forum for Social Economics, Springer;The Association for Social Economics, vol. 40(2), pages 139-155, July.
    3. John Komlos, 2015. "How Natural Is the Natural Rate of Unemployment?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(2), pages 160-167, March.
    4. Marc Audi & Amjad Ali, 2023. "Public Policy and Economic Misery Nexus: A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing World," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 56-73, May.
    5. Enrico Sergio Levrero, 2018. "Sulle critiche e gli ostacoli alla proposta dello Stato come "Occupatore di ultima istanza"," Working Papers 0035, ASTRIL - Associazione Studi e Ricerche Interdisciplinari sul Lavoro.
    6. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, 1998. "(Full) Employment Policy: Theory and Practice," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_258, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Jon Wisman, 2013. "The Growth Trap, Ecological Devastation, and the Promise of Guaranteed Employment," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 53-78.
    8. Jon D. Wisman & Aaron Pacitti, 2017. "Guaranteed Employment and Universal Child Care For a New Social Contract," Working Papers 2017-05, American University, Department of Economics.
    9. Eduardo Garzón Espinosa & Bibiana Medialdea García & Esteban Cruz Hidalgo, 2021. "Fiscal Policy Approaches: An Inquiring Look From The Modern Monetary Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 999-1022, October.
    10. Mathew Forstater, 1999. "Savings-Recycling Public Employment: An Assets-Based Approach to Full Employment and Price Stability," Macroeconomics 9908003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Victor Quirk, 2018. "The light on the hill and the ‘right to work’," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 29(4), pages 459-480, December.
    12. Jon Wisman, 2010. "The Moral Imperative and Social Rationality of Government-Guaranteed Employment and Reskilling," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 68(1), pages 35-67.
    13. Tamara Premrov & Leonard Geyer & Nicolas Prinz, 2022. "Arbeit für alle? Kosten und Verteilungswirkung einer Jobgarantie für Langzeitbeschäftigungslose in Österreich," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 48(1), pages 59-82.
    14. John Komlos, 2016. "Unemployment in a Just Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series 5974, CESifo.
    15. Mathew Forstater, 1998. "Selective Use of Discretionary Public Employment and Economic Flexibility," Macroeconomics 9802014, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Oliver Picek, 2018. "Kann nationale Konjunkturpolitik noch Beschäftigung schaffen?," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 180, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    17. William Darity, 2013. "From Here to Full Employment," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 115-120, June.
    18. Kai Biehl & Franziska Disslbacher & Michael Ertl & Georg Feigl & Julia Hofmann & Pia Kranawetter & Markus Marterbauer & Michael Mesch & Reinhold Russinger & Matthias Schnetzer & Tobias Schweitzer & Th, 2020. "Der Staat als Employer of Last Resort," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 46(1), pages 3-12.
    19. Hannah Quinz & Jörg Flecker, 2023. "„Marienthal reversed“: Wie wirkt eine Arbeitsplatzgarantie für langzeitarbeitslose Menschen im österreichischen Kontext?," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 49(3), pages 79-104.
    20. Tony Aspromourgos, 2000. "Is an Employer-of-Last-Resort Policy Sustainable? A review article," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 141-155.
    21. Maximilian Mayerhofer, 2023. "Simulating the Economic Effects of an Employer of Last Resort Programme for Austria," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 49(2), pages 103-123.
    22. Julio Lopez-Gallardo & Luis Reyes-Ortiz, 2011. "Effective Demand in the Recent Evolution of the US Economy," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_673, Levy Economics Institute.

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