A Maria Antoinette moment

[timelets]

Wilbur Ross, a billionaire and the current Commerce Secretary, doesn't understand why federal workers who don't get paid can't get a loan from a bank.

"Wilbur Ross 'Doesn't Understand' Why Furloughed Workers Need Food Banks | Hallie Jackson | MSNBC" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

[gomberg]

True. But, then, these people, arguably, live very peculiar lives. I mean, there are many Latino immigrants in the US who work three jobs at minimal wage and manage to send substantial money to their families back home. They also sleep 6 hours a day four men to a room. You also might call it "culture", but I do not like to overuse such words.

The key thing is, would those people whom you are marking as "overconsuming and lacking in foresight" be happier in expectation had they changed their behavior and saved for their children´s college by refusing themselves daily pleasures of life. I, for one, strongly doubt that.

[timelets]

Actually, it would be interesting to see whether the workers' behavior is going to change because of the current shutdown. We already know that at TSA absenteeism is up to 10% now. Maybe these people are already working other jobs intend to rebalance their employment portfolio, so to speak.

[gomberg]

I believe this has already been documented. Of course, they are already working other jobs - though, at this point, it is more to deal with current liquidity.

More generally, it would be interesting to see if in the future US government would have to pay more to hire (to compensate for the increased perceived risk). That would be the best evidence of changed worker behavior.