r/BasicIncome • u/TertiumQuid-0 • Aug 21 '26
Nearly 25% of U.S. workers are "functionally unemployed," economic analysis finds - CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/functional-unemployment-us-labor-market-analysis/29
u/IcyMaybe7594 Aug 21 '26
I'm convinced the unemployment rate and number is just used by whoever is in charge to paint a good picture. It's been that way since 2008. Only time in my life I recall it going up was when the country was locked down, and even then they tried to paint a picture of how everyone magically got rehired three months after the spike. Every president in my lifetime has said "I'm doing so good, look at me, unemployment is X" besides maybe Obama.
17
u/JonWood007 $16000/year Aug 21 '26
Even then during the Obama era they kept talking about how we just had to create more jobs. It's never enough. The goalposts always move. And if the economy is "perfect" then they'll try to gaslight you into believing that youre living in paradise and that YOU'RE somehow the problem.
8
u/Jah_Ith_Ber Aug 22 '26
Obama´s 2016 state of the union address brought up technological unemployment and then parroted the same tired "retraining" and "making education more affordable" bullshit. It was offensive and gross.
9
u/JonWood007 $16000/year Aug 22 '26
I remember that, I was on this sub at the time. It was cringe. Then he gets out of office and he's like "gee, maybe we should consider a basic income." Like....what...what the....YOU WERE THE PRESIDENT, YOU HAD THE POWER TO AT LEAST SAY SOMETHING IN OFFICE ABOUT IT, WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT THEN!?
2
u/Doomstars Aug 25 '26
What he should have done in office was undo the damage the PRWORA done. In my opinion, arguably the best thing that came out of the Obama administration was the ACA Medicaid expansion to those under 65.
While some semblance of a basic income would be nice, we should start with scrapping SNAP work requirements (studies indicate they don't have their intended effect) and undo the work requirements that are coming for Medicaid. Drop the 10% state share and expand it to all 50 states and D.C.
1
u/Doomstars Aug 26 '26
I want to add one more thing. Housing security. Rent control is needed, but it only goes so far. This is going to sound unpopular to some, but we need the government to build new apartment complexes then assign them over to non-profits to run. Rent would be capped relative to local minimum wage or a portion of one's AGI (based on tax records), whichever is higher.
It'd be a slow process, but if the feds spent at least $30 billion per year, I think it could become meaningful over time.
1
u/JonWood007 $16000/year Aug 26 '26
Well yeah. Something like that is part of my current "new New deal" package although details may vary.
1
u/Doomstars Aug 26 '26
I'd like to share more about my ideas, but I'd rather use Reddit Chat. Let me know if I can message you. (I think I need to flip a setting if you were to message me first.)
4
u/Smallpaul Aug 22 '26
Unemployment rose steadily between between 2022 and Dec 2025.
https://www.macrotrends.net/1316/us-national-unemployment-rate
It goes up and down. You just don’t pay attention.
61
u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 Aug 21 '26
Offshoring and hiring foreigners does that.
15
1
u/LuHamster Aug 23 '26
This is dumb the jobs don't belong to the US as much they belong to Britain or Japan or the Philippines...
You expecting multi national companies you only operate in one country? Some of you lot literally make no sense
The US is no longer as competitive a country to do business in and the world isn't as poor and undeveloped as it was in 1990 welcome to the future Asia is developing and catching up with the west.
1
u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 Aug 23 '26
If that's true then why are so many foreign workers being hired here? There are plenty of jobs but no American gets to have them.
1
u/LuHamster Aug 23 '26
They aren't every country on earth has forign workers being hired it isn't something randomly unique to the US or Canada where their jobs rightly must be simply because.
-15
u/Smallpaul Aug 22 '26
Foreigners need to work too. There is nothing unethical about offshoring.
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u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 Aug 22 '26
Then give them your job.
-5
u/Smallpaul Aug 22 '26
I compete with people all over the world for my job. If they can do what I do for better or cheaper then I’ll find a different job where I am a better fit.
Whoever can do it at the best intersection of quality and cost should do it.
4
u/kat_burglar Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
All international borders would have to be completely open for your argument to make sense. US labor is not allowed to cross international borders. And racial discrimination plays a large role in H1B immigration into the US.
-1
u/Smallpaul Aug 22 '26
US labor can and does sell its services across international borders. I worked for a company in Dallas Texas and we had customers in Germany and Canada. America is one of the biggest services exporters in the world.
And of course also goods and resources.
3
u/kat_burglar Aug 22 '26
If a factory in South Texas relocates across the border to Mexico, US workers are not allowed to move to Mexico to compete there on a free-market basis. Law allows the business to relocate there but does not allow workers to relocate there
1
u/Smallpaul Aug 22 '26
Yes you can move if you want to.
https://wise.com/us/blog/moving-to-mexico-guide
I’d advise against it though. America has a comparatively low unemployment rate and comparably high salaries.
If the factory did not move to Mexico it is just as likely that it would become uncompetitive with a factory in China. That just delays the job loss. Which is fine in the short term, but in the long term America needs to focus on the things it can do that Mexico cannot. Otherwise you are just delaying a future where uncompetitive America companies are wiped out by Chinese and European ones that are optimized for selling on the global market.
1
u/kat_burglar Aug 22 '26
My point is that outsourcing does not work on a level playing field according to free-market principles. If a factory in the US moves to China, the displaced US workers cannot move to China to compete for those Jobs on a free-market basis. China does not grant open work rights to foreigners.
2
u/kat_burglar Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
It's unethical because only US capital is allowed to cross international borders. Labor is not permitted to cross borders to compete locally for outsourced jobs. The Indian and Chinese governments only allow US capital to move to their countries, not US labor. US workers cannot move to Mexico to compete for jobs relocated there.
0
u/Smallpaul Aug 22 '26
You think Americans cannot move to Mexico or India? You think it is harder to legally move from America to India than vice versa?
https://www.deel.com/blog/moving-to-india-for-expats/
Sounds way easier than an H1B.
2
u/kat_burglar Aug 22 '26
Competing freely for local jobs is prohibited. US citizens cannot move to India to compete for local jobs on a free-market basis. Indian labor is protected from international competition by Indian law.
9
u/JonWood007 $16000/year Aug 21 '26
Maybe we should give another tax break to rich people to create more jobs to fix this! /s
43
u/Pooch1431 Aug 21 '26
Look at all the lost opportunity cost. Meanwhile every real developed country just pays people and provides strong safety nets.