Economist Robert Pollin argues that the United States needs to try to implement full employment and how it can help the economy.

First published in 1986. This book analyses, at an introductory level, the four main and competing political interpretations of the cause of unemployment and the future of paid work – social democracy, free market liberalism, the disciplinary state, and utopian socialism. Considered together these four interpretations are highly revealing – and challenging. They raise considerable doubts about the viability or desirability of policies design to ‘get the jobless back to work’. Keane and Owens’ central argument is that the post-war policy of full male employment, as well as its politic, economic and social preconditions, are not repeatable, Starting with Keynes and Beveridge, they explain how and why full employment welfare states developed in Britain and the US, and how they had in turn been replaced by the ‘strong state, free market’ programmes of Thatcher and Reagan. By focusing on an issue which was, and still is, at the heart of political debate, the book provides a lucid and approachable guide to four key strands of political thought it Britain and the US. It will be an ideal introductory text for students of politics, sociology and economics.

First published in 1986. This book analyses, at an introductory level, the four main and competing political interpretations of the cause of unemployment and the future of paid work - social democracy, free market liberalism, the disciplinary state, and utopian socialism. Considered together these four interpretations are highly revealing - and challenging. They raise considerable doubts about the viability or desirability of policies design to 'get the jobless back to work'. Keane and Owens' central argument is that the post-war policy of full male employment, as well as its politic, economic and social preconditions, are not repeatable, Starting with Keynes and Beveridge, they explain how and why full employment welfare states developed in Britain and the US, and how they had in turn been replaced by the 'strong state, free market' programmes of Thatcher and Reagan. By focusing on an issue which was, and still is, at the heart of political debate, the book provides a lucid and approachable guide to four key strands of political thought it Britain and the US. It will be an ideal introductory text for students of politics, sociology and economics.

Impactful and integral to our economic recovery after the pandemic, The Autism Full Employment Act will rebuild and improve autism employment programs. Employment remains the issue today for many adults with autism. During the pandemic of 2020, authors Michael Bernick and Dr. Lou Vismara, along with other adults with autism, practitioners, and advocates, set out to develop an Autism Full Employment Act. At the time, the national economy was decimated, and it was clear that it would need to be rebuilt, starting in 2021 and beyond. The Act is an attempt not only to rebuild autism employment programs, but also to address the limitations and short­comings of the current system. The Autism Full Employment Act shows how there can be a place in the job world for the wide range of adults with autism, ADHD, and other learning and mental health differ­ences—many of whom are not employed today. Bernick and Dr. Vismara review the autism employment initiatives in recent years among major employers, state and local governments, autism-focused businesses, and autism transi­tion programs, and present strategies to build on these initiatives. They set out more fully the meanings of “autism talent advantage,” “autism friendly workplace,” and “employment for the more severely impacted.” Six broad strategy areas are explored. Interspersed with these six strategy areas are notes on related issues of “professionalizing the direct support workforce,” “transitions,” and “comorbidities.” Bernick and Dr. Vismara end by considering why no government action or pro­gram can replace the employment journey of each adult with autism, but how instead the Act can hasten these journeys.

For centuries we've believed that work was where you learned discipline, initiative, honesty, self-reliance--in a word, character. A job was also, and not incidentally, the source of your income: if you didn't work, you didn't eat, or else you were stealing from someone. If only you worked hard, you could earn your way and maybe even make something of yourself. In recent decades, through everyday experience, these beliefs have proven spectacularly false. In this book, James Livingston explains how and why Americans still cling to work as a solution rather than a problem--why it is that both liberals and conservatives announce that "full employment" is their goal when job creation is no longer a feasible solution for any problem, moral or economic. The result is a witty, stirring denunciation of the ways we think about why we labor, exhorting us to imagine a new way of finding meaning, character, and sustenance beyond our workaday world--and showing us that we can afford to leave that world behind.

The book is without doubt a must-read reflection on the notion of full employment and a source of inspiration for the establishing of the knowledge-based economy that is such an aspiration for Europeans. Thomas Bauwens, Agence Europe Every book by Günther Schmid is an event. This one illuminates the current European policy debate on flexicurity . It gives fresh analyses of the comparative employment performances of the EU and the USA, and proposes a path-breaking framework for understanding and improving them. Pragmatic and provocative, Schmid s contribution should be a must for researchers, but also for HR managers, social partners representatives and policymakers interested in the present and future of work and employment. Bernard Gazier, University Paris 1 and a Member of the Institut Universitaire de France Transitional Labour Markets (TLM) defined as legitimate, negotiated and politically supported sets of various employment options in critical events over the life course are an essential ingredient of modern full employment strategies. After assessing the European Employment Strategy, this book offers a detailed comparative analysis of employment performance for selected European member states and the United States. It suggests that successful employment systems arise from a new paradigm of flexibility and security ( flexicurity ) the balance of which varies according to countries institutional paths. Whilst there is no best practice , TLM theory does provide normative and analytical principles that can be generalised for various institutional settings. The book also provides good practice examples for managing critical transitions over the life course from education to employment, from one job to another, from unemployment to employment, from private activities to gainful work and from employment to retirement and develops the contours for extending unemployment insurance to work life insurance. With a fresh and new approach to the question of full employment in modern society, this book will appeal to academic scholars interested in labour market and employment policies, and policy decision makers at local, regional, national and European levels.

Beveridge defined full employment as a state where there are slightly more vacant jobs than there are available workers, or not more than 3% of the total workforce. This book discusses how this goal might be achieved, beginning with the thesis that because individual employers are not capable of creating full employment, it must be the responsibility of the state. Beveridge claimed that the upward pressure on wages, due to the increased bargaining strength of labour, would be eased by rising productivity, and kept in check by a system of wage arbitration. The cooperation of workers would be secured by the common interest in the ideal of full employment. Alternative measures for achieving full employment included Keynesian-style fiscal regulation, direct control of manpower, and state control of the means of production. The impetus behind Beveridge's thinking was social justice and the creation of an ideal new society after the war. The book was written in the context of an economy which would have to transfer from wartime direction to peace time. It was then updated in 1960, following a decade where the average unemployment rate in Britain was in fact nearly 1.5%.