One of the many bulls heading towards the coalition will be unemployment, the burning of the quangos and the cuts will cost jobs, and whilst in the long term that's a good thing it isn't a vote winner.
Even assuming Ed Miliband makes Labour as electable as Foot and Kinnock did, it needs to be realized that we were only spared a Labour government in the early 80's due to the Falklands, as people were none too pleased as Thatchers medicine to Labours previous major economic fuckup. As such it needs grabbing by the horns, or we will see Labour gain the votes of disgruntlement.
Anyone expecting the next few years to be laden with jobs is doomed to disappointment, a combination of banks being ultra careful with their lending and shoring up their capital, along with a tax regime that is nowhere near as business friendly as it ought to be, ensures that we're not a place to invest jobs in at the moment.
Another problem has been New Labours catastrophic dismantling of the employability of our youth, from education getting screwed over to a minimum wage creating an insurmountable barrier for many under the age of 21, getting someone work experience is not easy when for a bit more you can get a East European with a greater work ethic, better education and a history of employment.
So we have three tranches of unemployed, the ones who are going to lose out due to cuts, those who lose out due their potential wages exceeding their experience and ability and the entrenched unemployed.
The long term solution to this is, of course, fixing education, reducing red tape and removing the minimum wage along with stopping benefits being a lifestyle choice. In reality the first two aren't going to happen soon, and third probably not at all, and benefits - well, we'll see.
So. We need a short term solution to get people into work and to convince employers to employ British workers, with an eye to getting them off the dole queue. In this I can see only one option, and it is one I make through gritted teeth.
Subsidization.
There. I said it. Something I am ideologically against. Being a pragmatist means I can sometime contradict myself on the basis I'm more concerned with outcomes that having a shiny Scouts badge for Worlds Most Libertarian-y Libertarian. And in this case it would actually work.
In lieu of getting rid of the minimum wage - if the Coalition do, we'll just get Labour in 2015 who'll reintroduce it amongst more pseudo-Socialist crap - we need to emulate getting rid of it without actually doing so, and that means lowering the cost to business of employing British workers so they're worth hiring in the short term.
And before anyone says it, I'm all for free movement of labour, I just recognize that if we're going to have a benefits system then we need to ensure that the kind of job Brits can do, they are doing. If we need a specialist brain surgeon, then bring them in, but I'm fairly sure many of the lazy fuckers watching Jeremy Kyle could pour me a pint equally as well as Petr from Warsaw were they a) employable; and b) inspired by having their benefits threatened otherwise.
The internet is fair filled with people with describing how their utopia would work, but since this is a post about the real world, I'm working with what I've been given and that's an electorate not exactly scrabbling for Libertarian ideals to be applied to them.
Ahem.
Anyway, back to the 's' word. We need to subsidize wages for the currently unemployed, primarily for those who are about to get their P45's due to the cuts (they vote, if you make them happy they'll probably vote for you, if you make then unhappy they''ll probably vote for the other guy) and those who are under 21 (they'll probably vote for you in gratitude). Not forever, but for a couple of years to give them the opportunity to get their feet under the table and trained up, and not too much - £2.50 an hour subsidy for a maximum of 35 hours isn't that much greater than paying for them to play on their X-Box all day and actually gets them doing something. Have the scheme run for a Parliament giving the opportunity for the economy to get back on its feet fully and then you can start to wind down the scheme, or aim it at the terminally lazy under threat of losing their benefits.
Sure, it'd be jobs in bars or fast food places, but it's a starting point and maybe companies will see it as a reason to invest in the UK if they're getting a bit of cheap labour.
24 months practical experience, a posting on their CV and an actual reference from their last employer will get them off the dole for the long term as they'll be able to compete against the economic migrants on the low and mid level jobs, and maybe even get some self-respect.
It's a horribly un-libertarian suggestion, but I'd be happy to take that hit now in exchange for getting people into work, scything Labours argument about job cuts at the knees and being part of a long term assault on the lazy fuckers who think they're entitled to a life on benefits.
Even assuming Ed Miliband makes Labour as electable as Foot and Kinnock did, it needs to be realized that we were only spared a Labour government in the early 80's due to the Falklands, as people were none too pleased as Thatchers medicine to Labours previous major economic fuckup. As such it needs grabbing by the horns, or we will see Labour gain the votes of disgruntlement.
Anyone expecting the next few years to be laden with jobs is doomed to disappointment, a combination of banks being ultra careful with their lending and shoring up their capital, along with a tax regime that is nowhere near as business friendly as it ought to be, ensures that we're not a place to invest jobs in at the moment.
Another problem has been New Labours catastrophic dismantling of the employability of our youth, from education getting screwed over to a minimum wage creating an insurmountable barrier for many under the age of 21, getting someone work experience is not easy when for a bit more you can get a East European with a greater work ethic, better education and a history of employment.
So we have three tranches of unemployed, the ones who are going to lose out due to cuts, those who lose out due their potential wages exceeding their experience and ability and the entrenched unemployed.
The long term solution to this is, of course, fixing education, reducing red tape and removing the minimum wage along with stopping benefits being a lifestyle choice. In reality the first two aren't going to happen soon, and third probably not at all, and benefits - well, we'll see.
So. We need a short term solution to get people into work and to convince employers to employ British workers, with an eye to getting them off the dole queue. In this I can see only one option, and it is one I make through gritted teeth.
Subsidization.
There. I said it. Something I am ideologically against. Being a pragmatist means I can sometime contradict myself on the basis I'm more concerned with outcomes that having a shiny Scouts badge for Worlds Most Libertarian-y Libertarian. And in this case it would actually work.
In lieu of getting rid of the minimum wage - if the Coalition do, we'll just get Labour in 2015 who'll reintroduce it amongst more pseudo-Socialist crap - we need to emulate getting rid of it without actually doing so, and that means lowering the cost to business of employing British workers so they're worth hiring in the short term.
And before anyone says it, I'm all for free movement of labour, I just recognize that if we're going to have a benefits system then we need to ensure that the kind of job Brits can do, they are doing. If we need a specialist brain surgeon, then bring them in, but I'm fairly sure many of the lazy fuckers watching Jeremy Kyle could pour me a pint equally as well as Petr from Warsaw were they a) employable; and b) inspired by having their benefits threatened otherwise.
The internet is fair filled with people with describing how their utopia would work, but since this is a post about the real world, I'm working with what I've been given and that's an electorate not exactly scrabbling for Libertarian ideals to be applied to them.
Ahem.
Anyway, back to the 's' word. We need to subsidize wages for the currently unemployed, primarily for those who are about to get their P45's due to the cuts (they vote, if you make them happy they'll probably vote for you, if you make then unhappy they''ll probably vote for the other guy) and those who are under 21 (they'll probably vote for you in gratitude). Not forever, but for a couple of years to give them the opportunity to get their feet under the table and trained up, and not too much - £2.50 an hour subsidy for a maximum of 35 hours isn't that much greater than paying for them to play on their X-Box all day and actually gets them doing something. Have the scheme run for a Parliament giving the opportunity for the economy to get back on its feet fully and then you can start to wind down the scheme, or aim it at the terminally lazy under threat of losing their benefits.
Sure, it'd be jobs in bars or fast food places, but it's a starting point and maybe companies will see it as a reason to invest in the UK if they're getting a bit of cheap labour.
24 months practical experience, a posting on their CV and an actual reference from their last employer will get them off the dole for the long term as they'll be able to compete against the economic migrants on the low and mid level jobs, and maybe even get some self-respect.
It's a horribly un-libertarian suggestion, but I'd be happy to take that hit now in exchange for getting people into work, scything Labours argument about job cuts at the knees and being part of a long term assault on the lazy fuckers who think they're entitled to a life on benefits.
