Should-Read: Noah Smith: A Job Is More Than a Paycheck

Should-Read: Noah Smith: A Job Is More Than a Paycheck: “I’ve believed that what mattered most for economic well-being was money…

…I’ve supported lots of policies aimed at boosting the amount of money in the average person’s pocket. I’ve called for Japan to liberalize its markets, and for the U.S. to encourage workers to move to places with better opportunities. And I’ve often assumed that a dollar of government redistribution is just as good as a dollar of wages. I’m starting to think I… ignore[d] a big, important source of economic well-being:  jobs…. Most people probably care not just about the amount of money they get, but how they get it. If they see themselves as having earned their daily bread, they feel better about themselves than if they got a handout. A job also probably has an important symbolic value–it sends a message that society cares about you and has a place for you….

What kind of concrete plans would address Americans’ hunger for jobs? An easy step is to promote demand-based policies that keep employment high, like fiscal stimulus. A more drastic measure would be a federal job guarantee…. It’s probably better to have unemployed people doing something marginally useful…. Perhaps the deepest change would be to tweak U.S. corporate culture, restoring the value of long-term employment…. Tax incentives for long-term labor contracts, or for labor hoarding during recessions, could put the government’s thumb on the scale in favor of employment over pure dollars. Whatever policies are appropriate, it’s clear that economics pundits and policy wonks need to shift our thinking a bit…