Unemployment in the United States

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1828236179

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-226169

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Unemployment in the United States

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: United States, Government Printing Office

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: II, 193 Seiten

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Statement by Miss Frances Perkins, industrial commissioner of the State of New York

Collection:: Economics Books

68 UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES ment in that particular industry, of finding other and suitable forms of work. On the problem of cylical unemployment, no one has dared to say that we will find a preventive of these returning times of business, and therefore of industrial depression. They are frequently due to world economic conditions, and are not within the control of the local Government, or a set of industrialists. Nevertheless, by taking thought of the situation, and by cooperation between the Government and the industrialists, it would seem we could shorten the length of that period of depression, and decrease the depth of that depression. so that we need not go so deep into it without some artificial stimula- tion, nor so long endured. This now brings us to the point of considering what value these three bills introduced by Senator Wagner have for carrying out the Government's part of the program. In the first place we have the bill for collecting statistical informa- tion. That is invaluable, as it gives everyone studying the problem the necessary knowledge upon which to proceed. There appears to be no competent objection to that particular bill. The bill for creating an appropriate reserve for public works is vital. At the exact moment when private industrial employment begins to falter, whether due to the recession of technological unemployment or other cause, the public works program can be put into play just as soon as the collectors of the statistics begin to see there is a falling off of industry in this or in that locality. They can be introduced, a little at a time, the construction on these public works, to take up the unemployed persons thrown out of employment by these periods seasonal or technological unemployment. And when there is a cyclical depression of the world they can shorten the depth of that Pid of depression as well as the duration of it through this channel of aid. Let us consider if out of the three million men Mr. Green said are now out of work to-day—I think his estimate is based on trade-union figures, and does not give a complete picture; I think it is nearer 5,000,000 that are out of employment. We have no idea of what the true number is. But, taking his figure, out of that 3,000,000 men, say we can put 1,000,000 of them to work on public works for say 15 days, eight hours a day, and at the regular rate of wages, five days a week. Right away you bring into play a “spenders brigade ”’—this spenders brigade of 1,000,000 people, they would demand products, and in a moment, you would have a demand for 1,000,000 pairs of shoes, and probably 5,000,000 pairs of socks, and 3,000,000 shirts, and a million suits of clothes, to say nothing of the clothing and bedding and other things which their families would require. And can you imagine what would happen to the clothing industry when orders for a million suits were thrown to them, or the knitting industry when orders for 5,000,000 pairs of socks came to them, and so on down the line of the things that would be consumed by this spenders brigade? Incidently the mills would begin to work when these people started out to buy stockings and they will take their time to buy other necessities for themselves, and it is easy to see that in » short time the depression is over. After all, the whole thing is a circle and starting motion at one point, it is transmitted to the adjacent points, and then the whole circle

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