Journal mdsolar's Journal: Employment
President Obama wants to add wage insurance to unemployment insurance so that taking a lower paying job doesn't blow your mortgage. This sounds like a reasonable response to lower job security, though adding it to the earned income tax credit might be a better move.
A place where the President has done well is in trying to place veterans in jobs. And recent work shows veterans children are, still suffering from their fathers' service. Government policy can have very direct consequences for workers.
One place we may anticipate this is in energy policy, where we will be shifting more and more away from coal mining. Now there a currently more jobs in renewable energy than in coal so over all, the policy boosts employment. But, it can't do that right where coal miners live. Tennessee has attracted silicon refining which helps and employment is high there. But a pound of silicon is worth 200 pounds of coal, so, with time, the material volume can't keep up with the effort involved with coal extraction. The potential of the world market notwithstanding, renewable energy will have less employment in the end than fossil fuels. It will enable more employment in other sectors by making energy cheaper, but energy sector employment must ultimately shrink as getting energy becomes a very passive pursuit.
So, it is encouraging the the President linked rebuilding our transportation system to helping out coal miners, because that is a job that is big enough to cover their numbers. And, instead of wage insurance, I'd urge signing bonuses. GM owes the President. The BOLT should be built in coal country at wages higher than for mining. And, there should be a signing bonus for every experienced miner who quits to work on the BOLT. It should be a rapid transition that makes it very hard for mines to retain employees.
A raise and a bonus should be the reward for leaving the mine.
One place we may anticipate this is in energy policy, where we will be shifting more and more away from coal mining. Now there a currently more jobs in renewable energy than in coal so over all, the policy boosts employment. But, it can't do that right where coal miners live. Tennessee has attracted silicon refining which helps and employment is high there. But a pound of silicon is worth 200 pounds of coal, so, with time, the material volume can't keep up with the effort involved with coal extraction. The potential of the world market notwithstanding, renewable energy will have less employment in the end than fossil fuels. It will enable more employment in other sectors by making energy cheaper, but energy sector employment must ultimately shrink as getting energy becomes a very passive pursuit.
So, it is encouraging the the President linked rebuilding our transportation system to helping out coal miners, because that is a job that is big enough to cover their numbers. And, instead of wage insurance, I'd urge signing bonuses. GM owes the President. The BOLT should be built in coal country at wages higher than for mining. And, there should be a signing bonus for every experienced miner who quits to work on the BOLT. It should be a rapid transition that makes it very hard for mines to retain employees.
A raise and a bonus should be the reward for leaving the mine.
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