The job guarantee with Pavlina R. Tcherneva

SPIDERS in the Doughnut

In this talk, Pavlina R. Tcherneva helped us understand the Job Guarantee (JG) and associated policy proposals, diving into modern monetary theory, critiques of status quo arguments for continued unemployment, and the macroeconomic implications of the job guarantee system. She also helped us understand the timeliness of the job guarantee in light of the ecological crisis and recent discussions around the Green New Deal, as well as in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion includes reflections on the redefinition of work, including reproductive and regenerative activities, the future of project-based work, and the placement of the job guarantee within discussions on status quo growth and green growth versus degrowth or post-growth societal and political economic scenarios. Biography Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Economics at Bard College and a Research Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute, NY. She specializes in Modern Monetary Theory and public policy. Her recent book The Case for a Job Guarantee (2020) was selected as one of the Financial Times best economics books of 2020. It is a timely guide to the benefits of one of the most transformative public policies being discussed today. Tcherneva has collaborated with policy makers from the US and abroad on designing and evaluating employment programs. Her early work assessed Argentina’s adoption of a large-scale job creation proposal she had developed with colleagues in the United States. She also worked with the Sanders 2016 Presidential campaign after her research on inequality had garnered national attention. Tcherneva frequently speaks at Central Banks on Modern Monetary Theory and macro-economic stabilization policies. Her current research evaluates the impact of unemployment on growth, income inequality, and public health. Tcherneva’s first book Full Employment and Price Stability (2004) is a rare collection of writings on employment and inflation by Nobel Prize winning economist William Vickrey, adapted for the modern day. Links https://jobguaranteenow.org/ https://democratizingwork.org/ https://global-summit.ilo.org/en/programme About the SPIDERS Platform This series of talks is organized on behalf of SPIDERS, the Seoul Platform for Initiating Discourses on Equitable and Resilient Society, and funded by the Seoul Institute. The talks complement a series of original papers published on the SPIDERS platform, dedicated to outlining the building blocks of post-capitalist political economies and societies, not oriented around growth and profit, but rather good lives and a flourishing web of life in times of profound planetary change. Hosting these talks are founder of the P2P Foundation, Michel Bauwens, and Rok Kranjc, researcher, designer and translator in the fields of political ecology, alternative economies and participatory futures. Link to the paper series: http://seoulhumanities.or.kr/sub03/e_result.html