In your opinion is the economy doing well?

[Torie]

Some of the workforce participation drop is due to more people gaming the system. Workers comp claims for phony injuries are way up, and of course the extended unemployment payments, food stamps etc affect behavior as well. My favorite local door and window company is going out of business in the next week or two in part due to that, and now another of my good friends is out of a job, and I am going to need to use my contacts to scramble to find him odd piece work.

The current "regime" is just not sustainable. The maths don't work.

[Torie]

Some of the workforce participation drop is due to more people gaming the system. Workers comp claims for phony injuries are way up, and of course the extended unemployment payments, food stamps etc affect behavior as well. My favorite local door and window company is going out of business in the next week or two in part due to that, and now another of my good friends is out of a job, and I am going to need to use my contacts to scramble to find him odd piece work.

Torie, what about the Georgia Works program in Obama's jobs bill?

Additionally, I believe the US should seriously look into the Hartz IV reforms implement in Germany. Georgia Works is based on a similar concept. I'm not an expert on Hartz IV (perhaps some German commentators can jump in here). Here's what seems to be relevant key points

1) To receive unemployment benefits, a person must sign a contract specifying the state's obligations to them based on their living condition, assets, income, etc. as well as their obligations to the state, which could include being required to accept a job subject to "constitutional rights, like freedom of movement, freedom of family, marriage and human dignity."

2) When a person takes a low-wage job, they can continue to receive unemployment benefits which are based on a certain minimum implied wage, plus a certain percentage of the wage they earn. The key point here is that a person can still earn more money by taking a job that pays less or about the same as unemployment benefits, so they have more incentive to do so. The government is essentially subsidizing low wage jobs.

Hartz IV remains controversial, and low wage jobs are by no means ideal. However, the program's success in reducing unemployment in Germany is dramatic and undeniable.

I think the general approach of the policy outlined above is correct, and I would note that I have always, unlike the majority of my fellow Pubs, been in favor of the earned income tax credit.