A Federal Job Guarantee for Everyone? Be Skeptical

Two ideas have emerged among the energized socialist wing of the Democratic Party in response to inequality, wage stagnation, poverty and unemployment. One is a federal guarantee of a job, while the other is a pledge for each person to receive a minimum cash payment from the government, an idea known as universal basic income. Socialist candidates such as New York City’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives, have emphasized the job guarantees in their platforms, and Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed it as well. Meanwhile, basic income remains largely confined to internet discussion circles and the pronouncements of a few tech-industry leaders.

So job guarantees it is. If Democrats take power, and if socialists continue to increase their influence within the Democratic Party, there now seems to be a good chance that the job guarantee, or something like it, will become official policy within the next decade or two.