The economy is made up of real people

[pmb]

It turns out that unemployment is not funemployment for most people. For every percent increase in unemployment, 47,000 people die [1]. This is very very bad. This means that the increase from the 2006 low of 4.6 percent[2] to the current rate of 8.1 percent [3] our economy has killed more than 150,000 people. And the most optimistic economists

Comments

[auranja]

For every percent increase in unemployment, 47,000 people die [1]

We never think of it this way, do we?

[pmb]

I hadn't before, but I will now...

[bonboard]

I appreciate the point, and it's sobering.

But manufacturing steel kills people. Manufacturing leather, rubber, paper, mining coltan, distilling spirits, and burning coal kill people too.

Without data, I would wager that a 1% decrease in unemployment kills at least 20,000 people; so AT&T, IBM, Intel, and Google would face similar liabilities to AIG.

The deaths are maybe a little less depressing than suicides and homicides, but not that much less.

[pmb]

Most of our employment is service-sector based and not manufacturing based, so I doubt your back-of-the-envelope calculations. But as you said, we are arguing without data.

And deaths at work are far less depressing than partner-related homicide and suicide.

[zudini]

According to the BLS, there were only 5,488 workplace fatalaties in 2007. But this does not count people who died earlier than normal because of stress or other factors which cannot be pinpointed to a workplace trauma.

I completely disagree about which is more depressing. An active, productive member of society being cut down in the middle of creating wealth is much sadder to me than an unemployed suicide or partner-related homicide.

[zudini]

Also, that article [1] is setting off my BS alarm. I found Brenner's publication page and he seems to be looking around for this indication (unemployment increases mortality) anywhere he can find it -- rather than finding a surprising number and publishing it once. Unfortunately none of the articles are free to read online so I can't examine his methods directly. Many of the articles seem to be based on historical analysis of particular conutries, and I question how well they translate to the American society and the modern state of medical technology.

[bonboard]

I have reason to doubt the "unemployment causes increases in crime" claim. The "unemployment is correlated to increased serious health issues" I find easier to swallow, but Brenner himself noted that that the causation isn't clear