What characterizes regions where right‐wing populist parties are relatively successful? A prominent hypothesis proposed in the emerging “geography of discontent” literature claims that places that are “left behind” constitute a breeding ground for the rise of populism. We re‐examine...

This paper examines the development of employment policy in the United Kingdom leading to the creation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and its main component, the Future Jobs Fund. Past public-sector direct employment schemes, including those associated with the workfare model, had been...

This paper briefly analyses the shifts in economic theory that have moved policy makers from unambiguously pursuing full employment to the current state where full employability is justified as being optimal. We also explore how these theoretical developments translated in practice, culminating...

This paper discusses a local, privately-run and federally-funded program for all individuals able to demonstrate their income is at, or below the poverty line. This free Certified Nursing Assistant training program enables successful participants to obtain appropriate employment in local...

The Employer of Last Resort (ELR) program is a New Deal type of program to provide a government position for anyone seeking work. Unlike private industries who compete over prices and wages, the ELR “industry†is not meant to compete with the private sector; rather it provides public...

Unemployment brings economic, psychological, and social hardship to individuals and their community. Common policies to combat unemployment include the promotion of economic growth and training, but a less common policy focuses on the right to work. This policy proposal decouples the goals of...

This paper examines the development of employment policy in the United Kingdom. Past public-sector direct employment schemes, including those associated with the workfare model, had been discredited as ineffective across the OECD. In numerous countries, however, newer job creation schemes were...

Forty-five years ago, the A. Philip Randolph Institute issued “The Freedom Budget,” in which a program for economic transformation was proposed that included a job guarantee for everyone ready and willing to work, a guaranteed income for those unable to work or those who should not be...

This paper critiques the fiscal cliff mythology and the neoliberal push for economic austerity policies and sequestration of government programs. The purpose of the paper is to shift the debate to a social justice alternative that can sustain and enhance the social safety nets by implementing a...

Euroland is in a crisis that is slowly but surely spreading from one periphery country to another; it will eventually reach the center. The blame is mostly heaped upon supposedly profligate consumption by Mediterraneans. But that surely cannot apply to Ireland and Iceland. In both cases, these...