{"id":39929,"date":"2013-12-09T08:28:31","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T15:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/09\/the-spontaneous-generation-of-jobs-theory.html"},"modified":"2013-12-09T09:49:03","modified_gmt":"2013-12-09T16:49:03","slug":"the-spontaneous-generation-of-jobs-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/09\/the-spontaneous-generation-of-jobs-theory.html","title":{"rendered":"The Spontaneous Generation of Jobs Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Theory of Spontaneous Generation is a long-discredited idea that life on the local, observable level just spontaneously happens. \u00a0Leave a pool of water alone, and mosquito larvae magically appear. \u00a0Leave a hunk of meat on the ground, and maggots will, hey presto, spontaneously generate.<\/p>\n

The theory has been thoroughly discredited by such simple expedients as setting up hunks of meat with screens around them that keep out flies. \u00a0Amazingly enough, no maggots appear.<\/p>\n

The GOP, though, still loves Spontaneous Generation as an economic cure. \u00a0People have been on unemployment for too long! Even though there are three times as many job applicants as there are jobs out there, the GOP has decided that if people who still don't have jobs are ever to get jobs, we must bump them off of unemployment insurance (which pays a whopping 40-50% of their previous take-home pay, because everyone loves to lounge around on a 50-60% pay cut), and then, hey presto, through the miracle of Spontaneous Generation, all those people will magically get jobs that don't currently exist!<\/p>\n

Or they'll starve. But that decreases the surplus population, which some GOP economist or someone once described as a good thing.<\/p>\n

Let me back up to that number. Per the\u00a0CBPP, based on government numbers (http:\/\/www.cbpp.org\/cms\/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3252<\/a>), there are three times<\/i> as many unemployed as there are job openings.<\/p>\n

'At one point at the beginning of the recovery there were 7 people looking for work for every job opening. That ratio has declined, but remains at a level roughly equal to the highest point reached in the 2001 recession and its aftermath. In September 2013, 11.3 million workers were unemployed but there were only 3.9 million job openings. That is about three unemployed workers for every available position \u2014 in other words, even if every available job were filled by an unemployed individual, about two of every three unemployed workers would still be unemployed.'<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

But we can, of course, magically employ everyone (read: all those malingerers) if we just boot them off of unemployment because, hey, magic!\ufeff<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

The Punishment Cure<\/a>
\n The Republican response to the unemployed is a mix of callousness and bad economics.\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Theory of Spontaneous Generation is a long-discredited idea that life on the local, observable level just spontaneously happens. \u00a0Leave a pool of water alone, and mosquito larvae magically appear. \u00a0Leave a hunk of meat on the ground, and maggots will, hey presto, spontaneously generate. The theory has been thoroughly discredited by such simple expedients … Continue reading “The Spontaneous Generation of Jobs Theory”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,77,376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-economy","category-taxing-spending"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25976,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/02\/its-all-about-the-jobs-stupid.html","url_meta":{"origin":39929,"position":0},"title":"It's all about the jobs, stupid","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 2-Feb-12 12:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Except when it's not. 1. Unemployment is improving, is still high and sinking too slowly.2. The GOP mercilessly lambastes the Obama Administration for high unemployment.3. The Fed is tasked by Congress to (a) manage inflation and (b) reduce unemployment.4. The Fed says that sometimes it might be necessary to prioritize\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24594,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/16\/you-mean-the-unemployed-arent-all-lazy-shiftless-bums.html","url_meta":{"origin":39929,"position":1},"title":"You mean the Unemployed aren't all lazy, shiftless bums?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 16-Dec-11 9:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, if you listen to the GOP field of presidential candidates (not to mention the GOP congressional leadership, the punditry from the Right, and the talking heads at Fox News), all those folks without jobs are living high on the hog, enjoying their oh-so-generous unemployment checks and catching up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31301,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/09\/inmates-running-the-asylum-gop-edition.html","url_meta":{"origin":39929,"position":2},"title":"Inmates Running the Asylum (GOP edition)","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 9-Nov-12 4:42pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I do realize that not all Republicans are zanies like this guy. \u00a0But the fact that this guy is treasurer of the Hardin County Republican Party (not a huge place, to be sure) and runs a popular Tea Party newsletter \u00a0_and_ was picked as a nice party functionary by State\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13344,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/16\/food_we_will_not_be_servi.html","url_meta":{"origin":39929,"position":3},"title":"Food we will not be serving at Twelfth Night","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 16-Jan-09 4:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Not the sort of cheese I plan on having on the antipasto tray: Casu marzu. Casu marzu is an illegal Sardinian cheese that is served riddled with writhing maggots that...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22540,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/08\/gop-lying-talking-points-for-the-2012-election-collect-the-whole-set.html","url_meta":{"origin":39929,"position":4},"title":"GOP Lying Talking Points for the 2012 Election (Collect the Whole Set!)","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Sep-11 9:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This was originally titled \"Mitch McConnell is a Dolt (You Lie! Edition),\" but I thought this title would be more search-worthy. That Sen. Mitch McConnell -- GOP leader in the Senate -- is a partisan hack almost goes without saying. \u00a0But he's now chimed in on the Senate Floor with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dolts"","block_context":{"text":"Dolts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/dolts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/pubprivtrend811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/pubprivtrend811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/pubprivtrend811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41010,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/06\/because-compelled-labor-is-an-american-virtue.html","url_meta":{"origin":39929,"position":5},"title":"Because compelled labor is an American virtue?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 6-Feb-14 11:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"The CBO report on the ACA indicates that some people, who are no longer forced to work full time for their employer in order to qualify for medical insurance (it being available from state exchanges) might cut back on their hours worked.First off, it seems more than a bit bizarre\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39930,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39929\/revisions\/39930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}