The Jobs Report and Essential Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor released its weekly jobs report yesterday. It was bad. Historically bad. And worse than predicted. 3.3 million claims for unemployment, which is about 4.5 times the previous record. Read about it here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-weekly-initial-unemployment-claims-march-21-153036254.html
All of this is happening because state governments are ordering all non-essential workers to stay home. Most do not get paid. This raises the question of what are essential workers?
In a crisis like this, medical professionals are the easy choice as essential, but some other professions may be surprising. Workers at grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and childcare facilities are deemed essential. These are near minimum wage jobs. These are exactly the professions that have been involved in Fight for Fifteen, the push for a higher minimum wage.
Many supporters of Fight for Fifteen are using this designation as essential as proof that these workers should be paid more. However, this also could be seen as another example of the Paradox of Value. Needs are always cheaper than wants. These are the difficult questions about economics we want you to consider.
Otherwise today, there are three assignments you could be working on:
- The Market Failures Slideshow was due yesterday. If you haven’t already, turn it in! (https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/rauscher/2020/03/20/homework-market-failures-slideshow/).
- The Monopoly Questions are open for a retake (https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/rauscher/2020/03/25/retake-monopolies-questions/).
- The Chapter 7 objectives are due on Sunday (https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/rauscher/2020/03/24/homework-market-failures-learning-objectives/).
You have the luxury of managing your own time. Do it well.
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