The Job Guarantee: Worth Considering?

In the past, @DavidPakman has published some good thoughts on Universal basic income and the Negative Income Tax. I certainly share some of the same concerns about UBI. Don't get me wrong, it certainly will give people more disposable income in the short term, but could it be possible for politicians and bureaucrats in the public and private sector to exploit this influx of consumer income and spending?

Our governing officials are already irresponsibly slashing social services that directly serve peoples' needs. Could business and land owners use it to justify raising the future cost of goods, services, and rents? I, for one, also found this article in the Stanford Review to offer some very interesting insights on UBI's implementation.

I think there are some other ways to help alleviate poverty, and while I do support UBI as one proposal of many, I do think it is imperative that people also consider other options, too.

The Job Guarantee

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A job guarantee is essentially a public option for jobs. Those that are not able to find jobs in the private sector have the option obtain a job in the public sector. Much like basic income, it would be available for everyone, and not a means-tested benefit. The government can train and pay new construction workers to build public hospitals, then people already going to medical school have the option to train for their profession and be paid a fair wage for it. The possibilities are quite vast: one could choose to help rebuild the country's infrastructure, become a teacher's aide, provide services to seniors or people with disabilities, etc.

One side note I would like to make is that I do not think that the job guarantee should be implemented as a work requirement for social welfare benefits, though. I also think that such a program should be as transparent, decentralized, and flexible as possible. Alexander Kolokotronis and Sam Nakayama of the DSA Libertarian Socialist Caucus outlined why they think a decentralized, socialistic job guarantee is a better idea than basic income using mechanisms such as participatory budgeting and local democratic assemblies to allocate these jobs. Participatory budgeting toward jobs in the local public sector could be made even easier through the usage of online voting, where people can rank their preferences.

I also think that a job guarantee has appeal to conservatives and some libertarians, prioritizing works and setting a floor for wages; which COULD eliminate the need for minimum wage laws. Check out this conservative case for a jobs guarantee.

What do you think of the job guarantee policy? Personally, I think there is room for both this policy and a basic income proposal in kind. I will cover more on this later!