Mark WeisbrotThe Guardian Unlimited, June 25, 2011

Yesterday CEPR released a new report about how work sharing can help prevent layoffs and reduce unemployment,  On the same day, both the Center for American Progress and the New America Foundation also published issue briefs about work sharing.

Really, it was a coincidence!  But is it a sign that work sharing is an idea whose time has come?

As "the first of our ideas that we believe could be achievable in Washington today," CAP's proposal provides context and analysis of how work sharing fits in today's political context.  It concludes:

Work sharing may not create jobs, but it will certainly help keep those who have a job at work if employers need to reduce hours. We’ve seen this policy work—very effectively—in other countries. And it’s a relatively simple (and cheap) way to reduce unemployment here at home. For workers and their families and for the broader pace of economic recovery, Congress clearly needs to consider these job-sharing ideas, and soon.

NAF's policy brief goes into more detail, looking at the effects of work sharing in OECD countries, with special focus on Germany and Canada, as well as in the U.S. states that currently have work sharing programs in place.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Demos, Economic Policy Institute, Employment Policy Research Network, and Political Economy Research Institute released the following reports on labor-market policy over the past week.

Center for Economic and Policy Research

Work Sharing: The Quick Route Back to Full Employment
Dean Baker

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Tax Holiday for Overseas Corporate Profits Would Increase Deficits, Fail to Boost the Economy, and Ultimately Shift More Investment and Jobs Overseas
Chuck Marr and Brian Highsmith

The UN Special Envoy for Haiti has released updated numbers on international aid pledges from last March’s donor conference, showing just a minor increase since the last update in early April. Although many donors claimed they were waiting for the new gov

June 2011, Dean Baker