• Short video lecture by Tanweer Ali with transcript
• Hanauer: The pitchforks are coming – TED talk
• The Job Guarantee – by Randall Wray, the Nation
• Low wages cost economy money – Berkeley Univ
• Niall Ferguson: 6 killer apps of prosperity – institutions
• CEO compensations trends – econ policy institute
• Tim Jackson – Youtube: An Economic Reality Check
• You don’t have to work to get paid – atlantic, automation, basic income
• Impact of minimum wage in the UK – NIESR

Further Readings:

• Expansion is the only way to cut Europe’s dole queues by John Grieve Smith
• Britain needs a pay rise – relative wages are falling in UK
• Harvey Framing the Fight for a Job Guarantee
• Barker – Achieving Full Employment through Green Fiscal and Monetary Policies V2
• Tcherneva – Full Employment The Road Not Taken
• Trades Union Congress pamphlet: How to Boost the Wage Share?

Discussion questions:

Please take part in at least two of the following discussions. As well as posting yourself, you should also respond to other people’s posts – we recommend you post at least two replies:

1. Let’s come up with a vision of an ideal prosperous society. If there are two characteristics that such a society must have, what would they be?  For example, it can include freedom of speech and universal healthcare, or something else.

2.  Respond to Hanauer’ talk  The pitchforks are coming.  Do you share his concern?  Do you think it is a problem specific to the US or does it also apply to other countries?

3.  Is there a minimum wage in your country? If not, should there be one? If there is, should it be increased? 

4. Can you imagine a time when government economic policy might be driven by other factors besides material gain?  What might the other factor(s) be?

5.  How is our future well-being is likely to be affected by the two new global trends: climate change and the rise of automation?  Share your predictions about what changes either of these two trends will bring to the world economy and the job market near you.

Assignment:

So far no society has figured out how to achieve full employment (perhaps with the exception of the former Soviet Union and North Korea).  Some attempts have been made by governments to create public projects, train workers and subsidize certain sectors. Yet unemployment remains higher than desirable in most countries. Why is it expensive for a country in the long run to have low wages and high unemployment today?  What are some of the policies that your country’s government could pursue in order to promote full employment?

2-3 pages, up to 750 words.