To the Editor:
I was surprised to see Paul Krugman write
that my position regarding unemployment benefits was “bizarre” to him (“Senator
Bunning’s Universe,” column, March 5).
In a recent debate on
the Senate floor over the so-called jobs bill, I argued that it
shouldn’t be called that because its provisions were not job creators. A
long-term extension of unemployment benefits, for example, if anything,
could be a disincentive to find work.
It’s textbook economics
(and common sense) that unemployment benefits do not create jobs, and
extending them for the long term can actually have the effect of
reducing a worker’s incentive to find new employment quickly.
Just
refer to a textbook written by Mr. Krugman himself that states: “Public
policy designed to help workers who lose their jobs can lead to
structural unemployment as an unintended side effect . . . in other
countries, particularly in Europe, benefits are more generous and last
longer. The drawback to this generosity is that it reduces a worker’s
incentive to quickly find a new job.”
It’s disappointing to see
well-respected people like Mr. Krugman use my argument about job
creation simply to make a partisan attack.
Jon Kyl
Washington, March 8, 2010
The writer, a
Republican of Arizona, is the assistant Republican leader in the Senate.
Note from KBJ: I'll repeat what I have said many times: Paul Krugman is the most intellectually dishonest person I have ever known.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 