President Obama recently appointed Alan Krueger of Princeton to be his new chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
As the Wall Street Journal recently recognized, Mr. Krueger has written about the effects of unemployment insurance on the unemployed. Namely, he has written that it increases the time that workers remain unemployed, with more generous benefits leading to longer periods of unemployment.
Currently, the unemployed can receive benefits for nearly two years. In Oregon those benefits are above average. Let’s hope Mr. Krueger carries his understanding of the problems with unemployment insurance into his new position as an economic advisor to the president. Perhaps he will consider effective reforms that could improve unemployment insurance, and which you can read more about here.
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