Year Published: 1987
Pages: 216
Hardcover
This book by U.S. Senator Simon (D., Illinois) outlines his proposal for a guaranteed jobs program. His thesis is simple: it is better to pay people to work than to pay people not to work. His appeal is emotional more than substantive. To sell his program, he takes the reader along for a series of interviews with unemployed people. The stories told are sad, sometimes tragic, but generally incomplete. Simon's concern is humanitarian, but his account lacks objectivity. He does not tell his readers, for example, that the percentage of the adult population that is employed has risen even though the unemployment rate may be high. Nonetheless, there is ample reason to recommend his book in chapters 4 and 5, which present the essence of his program and its costs.