[quote=spdrun]But I agree with you re: working hours. And feel that a good safety-net is one way to reduce job-related stress and discrete hiring costs (thus enabling employers to hire more people with fewer average hours). This should be beneficial in itself.[/quote]A good ‘safety net’ doesn’t encourage better working conditions. It may actually do the opposite. It also helps people stay out of work and not bother complaining to their legislators about the unfair tactics some companies use. Its a form of throwing money at someone to keep them quiet.
Simple approach would be to reduce H2Bs (it is reducing the wages of the white collar labor force), tighten the borders/stop giving citizenship away (it is reducing the wages of the blue collar labor force). Labor is a supply/demand function. A lot of the need for the high hours needed to make profits has been from the 3 Ps (Piss Poor Planning). Companies not wanting to invest in tools&training because the labor is cheap enough to throw manpower at it. Contributing to it is something that almost looks like the inverse Peter Principle. The incompetent get promoted because they don’t offend and are no threat to the ladder climbers above them (they are not likely to be able to cut ahead of them due to better skill). To offset the effect on the company, they work the bottom end harder (not smarter)… so how is extending a social safety net going to help here?
