Displaced Workers: A Role for the Federal Government


 

Publication Date: February 1984

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Richard B. McKenzie

Research Area: Labor

Keywords: Labor

Type: Report

Abstract:

The arguments that expanded federal spending to retrain displaced workers would net overall social benefits are unconvincing. The efficiency of such a proposal is doubtful because it appears that the market is already well equipped to handle the nation's retraining needs. Wages do adjust upward to reflect the training costs incurred by workers. To say that retraining costs are "high" is not to say that the market cannot adjust, especially inthe case of non-poor workers.