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Labor Policy & Visions for the Green New Deal

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EST)

Hosted By: Union for Radical Political Economics
  • Chair: Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University

Transitioning into Employment: Sectoral and Relative Wage Changes since the Great Recession

Kyle Mohr
,
University of Missouri-Kansas City

Abstract

In this paper we estimate monthly gross labor force flows from unemployment and nonparticipation into full-time, voluntary part-time, and involuntary part-time work over the course of the 2007-09 recession and subsequent expansion. We consider the sectors into which non-employed workers transition as well as the wages they receive upon entry relative to the minimum wage. Our findings indicate that wages and types of employment differ significantly across sectors, and that new entries into employment have been concentrated in lower-wage sectors which tend to employ a higher share of part-time workers in comparison to higher paid sectors. When considered across the economy as a whole, however, we find that the share of workers earning up to twice the minimum wage has increased in nearly all sectors over the past decade. The persistence of un- and under-employment as well as the relative swelling of lower-paid jobs together suggest the need for policies aimed at providing sufficient employment and wages at the federal level.

Connecting Economic Policy with Disparities-Focused Quality Improvement to Promote Health Equity

Natalie Kane
,
Children's Mercy Research Institute

Abstract

The results of recent research make it clear that social disadvantage and specific social determinants of health (SDOH) like access to healthy and stable housing play a central role in driving the racial and spatial disparity in pediatric asthma. To alleviate the burden of pediatric asthma and reduce the disparity in general will require a combination of community-based and patient-centered interventions framed in terms of health equity. Specifically, these equity-focused interventions should be designed to account for the distinct needs and resources of vulnerable patients and communities, simultaneously increasing symptom control, improving patient healthcare experience, and mitigating the impact of social disadvantage on health.

This paper proposes an adaptive health disparities intervention strategy combining disparities-focused quality improvement (QI) and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) programs to leverage existing resources and methods toward equitable and sustainable solutions. Disparities-focused QI can provide the methods and the platform required to design and manage community-based interventions, which can be sustained and expanded through MMT programs to draw SDOH into the realm of modifiable risk factors in healthcare. Together, MMT and disparities-focused QI can act as complementary elements of a translational research strategy to sustainably reduce health disparities and the social inequalities that drive them through time.

Evaluating the Real Resource Affordability of the GND

Yeva Nersisyan
,
Franklin & Marshall College

Abstract

The cost of the GND is usually estimated in financial terms, adding together the projected costs of the various programs. In this paper, we argue that the cost of the GND must be measured in terms of real resources, not finance. Whether or not we can “afford” the GND depends on the availability of real resources to implement it. Instead of adding up the financial costs of the various components of GND, we need a careful accounting of the resources the GND will require, weighing those against those it will release and what’s already available. We provide a first step toward such accounting.
We demonstrate that the comprehensiveness of the GND is its strength since some programs will release real resources to be used by others. In particular, both Medicare for All (M4A) and the Job Guarantee will be a source of resources for “greening” the economy, dampening the inflationary potential of the latter. On the other hand, implementing M4A together with “greening” would ameliorate the deflationary impact of universal healthcare. Similarly, fossil fuel and healthcare workers who lose their job due to the GND might be re-employed in “green” sectors. The Job Guarantee would provide a further cushion for workers.
JEL Classifications
  • J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor
  • B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches