Word: joblessness
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...unemployment problem. Fundamental questions about the trade-off imposed by labor unions between higher wages and extra jobs, or relations between firms and their employees are not discussed. Because Newsweek so rarely takes an editorial position, the agenda does draw widespread public attention to the plight of the jobless. But it does little more than that...
...Imagine, too, the feelings of those employed in the Works Progress Administration who, under the Newsweek plan, would work to repair the American infrastructure of highways, bridges, sewers, ports and dams that support the nation's commerce. Presumably by threatening to deny unemployment benefits, the government would coerce the jobless into performing what the laborers would likely perceive as make-work. The entire scene seems almost like a tremendous civilian chain gang. Like the members of the Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps in Vonnegut's Player Piano, such workers would soon begin to think of themselves as "Reeks and Wrecks...
...when asked where to place the blame for climbing jobless rates, 46% of those polled answered: "The situation Reagan inherited." Even 34% of the registered Democrats interviewed chose that response. Only 33% of the total put the responsibility on "Reagan and his policies." Some 61% said they personally were economically worse off than they had been when Reagan took office. Even so, 57% thought the President had generally put the nation on "the right track...
Moreover, Reagan seems to have weathered without serious damage the decisive psychological blow of the Government's announcement on Oct. 8 that the September jobless rate had really crossed the symbolic 10% mark. Although the Yankelovich interviews were conducted by telephone Oct. 5-7, the firm repolled last week and found that the opinions on Reagan and the economy had not significantly changed...
...mere 14% opted for the Republicans. That result was not altogether surprising; Democrats are traditional advocates of heavy social spending aimed partly at creating jobs. But even registered G.O.P. voters split, 28% to 28%, on whether their party or the Democrats would be more successful in reducing the jobless rolls...