How retiring makes the unemployed happier

Nicholas Oulton, 22 December 2012The idea of having GDP growth as the main target of economic policy has been under attack in recent years. This column addresses some of the criticisms and argues that continued GDP growth would be good for the UK and other European countries – and not just in the short term to reduce high levels of unemployment.Full Article: In defence of GDP as a measure of wellbeing

Identity theft is big business. Now, we’re finding out exactly how big. The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million of us have our identity stolen each year. It’s topped the list of consumer complaints filed with the agency for the past 12 years running, garnering about 15% of all complaints. And new research from ID Analytics shows that there are roughly 10,000 identity theft rings in the United States involved in this fast-growing illegal enterprise.

Carol Graham, 31 July 2011The UK government is the latest to consider incorporating measures of happiness in its policymaking. This column takes stock of what we know from investigations into people’s wellbeing. It concludes that there is still much to resolve before a measure of gross national happiness is possible – or indeed desirable.Full Article: Happiness economics: Can we have an economy of wellbeing?

Global youth unemployment has risen to close to its crisis peak and will climb higher as the economic recovery falters, a report by a UN agency has warned. The International Labour Office said the youth unemployment rate had been falling since hitting 12.7% in 2009, but this year had climbed again to stand at 12.6%. The rate is forecast to reach 12.8% by 2018, reports The Guardian.

Anton Brender, Emile Gagna, Florence Pisani, 21 June 2012Is austerity in the Eurozone doomed to fail? This column argues that Eurozone governments have to acknowledge that their response to the sovereign crises has been wrong. Bringing budgets back to balance as quickly as possible and at any cost for growth is a recipe for disaster.Full Article: The Eurozone: Choked by an accounting identity

(cc photo by NicestAlan)

The grim situation in California is about to get grimmer as Unemployment Benefits Go Bye-Bye More than 200,000 long-term jobless Americans will lose their unemployment checks this week, when eight states roll off the federal extended benefits program. Nearly half of them live in California, and the rest reside in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas.

CATHERINE RAMPELL tells the troubling story of the long-term unemployed in America, who often find that even their job applications are unwelcome:A recent review of job vacancy postings on popular sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder and Craigslist revealed hundreds that said employers would consider (or at least “strongly prefer”) only people currently employed or just recently laid off.