Basic Income, Inequality, and Unemployment: Rethinking the Linkage between Work and Welfare

The conventional solution to society's economic ills to generate economic growth. The standard assumption is that a rising tide will lift all boats. However, there is considerable evidence indicating that economic growth does not necessarily reduce either inequality or unemployment. Inequality,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic issues 1996-06, Vol.30 (2), p.399-406
Main Authors: Clark, Charles M. A., Kavanagh, Catherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Compensation and benefits
Economic Policy
Economic recessions
ECONOMIC SYSTEM IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EMPLOYMENT
Environmental policy
Equality
Full employment
INCOME
Income Distribution
Income Inequality
Keynesianism
Labor market
Labor markets
POVERTY
Presidential Address
Proletariat
Social aspects
Social Inequality
Studies
Unemployment
United States environmental policy
Welfare
Welfare economics
Welfare Policy
Welfare State
Working class
Working class in television
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The conventional solution to society's economic ills to generate economic growth. The standard assumption is that a rising tide will lift all boats. However, there is considerable evidence indicating that economic growth does not necessarily reduce either inequality or unemployment. Inequality, in the US has risen steadily since 1980, increasing both during the two recessions and during the economic expansions. Moreover, not only have fewer jobs been created per percentage point increases in income growth, but the jobs created are increasingly ones that pay poorly. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that the main measure economists use to gauge the economy's performance (GDP) is a very poor indicator of social well-being. A large portion of what has been called economic growth in the past 20 years has been due to factors that harm society's welfare, with crime, the breakdown of the family and pollution being three prominent examples. It may be time to consider alternative policies to address the problems of unemployment and income inequality.
ISSN:0021-3624
1946-326X
DOI:10.1080/00213624.1996.11505803