WE NEED AN ECONOMIC KNUCKLE GAME

Just a few days ago, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a report that provides some important info on the state of the labor market that Trump has bequeathed to the Biden administration and to the American citizenry in general. These data make it abundantly clear--especially when combined with the surge of the coronavirus-- that the damage unleashed by Trumpism is both deep and long-lasting. That's the thing about authoritarian regimes. They wreck the joint and even after they're deposed, the mess that needs to be cleaned up is mountainous. One way or the other, we're going to be dealing with trash and toxicity of Trump for a minute.

And about that recent DOL report? Well, according to that report, for the week ending January 16th-- the last week of the Trump administration-- another 1.3 million persons applied for unemployment benefits. That includes 900,000 who put in for the regular state unemployment benefits (UI) and an additional 424,000 who applied for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). That 1.3 million is a jump of about 113,000 from the prior week and, as noted by researchers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), "underscores that layoffs are increasing as the virus surges."

Remember, this news follows an earlier DOL report that the economy had shed 140,000 jobs during the month of December, with that loss being completely borne by women and, especially, by Black and Brown women.

All told, we're down 10 million jobs since the pandemic began in February 2020, and there's probably somewhere between 26 and 28 million persons who are either unemployed, out of work specifically because of the virus, or who have seen a plunge in hours or pay because of the pandemic.

Make no mistake about it, Trump leaves us a labor market that is both weary and wobbly. From large numbers of persons still filing initial unemployment claims. From a loss of jobs that is being disproportionately borne by women, Blacks, and poor people. From yet another surge in COVID infections and deaths. From millions of persons who languishing in joblessness.

Weary and wobbly.

And needing a way out

ECONOMIC KNUCKLE GAME

Folk fought to fumigate the White House of the white nationalism that leaked from the policy pores of Trump. We owe a debt of gratitude to the community organizers, and especially Black women, who put that work in and played a central role in putting a lid on Trump's toxicity.

But the fight is far from over. Progressives must now insist that the DEMS jettison any dreams of "unity" with people who continue to insist that the election was stolen and who remain wedded to a vision of the future that's anchored in anti-blackness and authoritarianism. Bargains with authoritarians and fascists are always Faustian in nature. What you surrender is inevitably more than you "receive," if you really get anything at all.

In short, we need to demand that those who rode our votes into office exhibit a willingness to use what I call an economic knuckle game. As I use it, an economic knuckle game is predicated upon determination to develop and push through--NOW-- the types of policies that begin to meet the needs of poor and working-class people who have had their bones damn near picked clean by Trumpism, especially during the last eight months or so. It means not making the support of White nationalists and supremacists a precondition for enacting social and economic policies that give much needed relief to the millions of trapped in misery because of Trumpism's toxicity. It means acknowledging that authoritarians, fascists, and White nationalists are not to be bargained with; that they are to be defeated and disarmed. An economic knuckle game is the willingness to flex and fight for a more just and more beautiful world. A world in which the human dignity and rights of all are protected and promoted. And the willingness to demonstrate solidarity with the suffering.

On a more concrete level, an economic knuckle game means a willingness to use the legislative policy tool known as "reconciliation" to push through and enact the COVID relief bill. That can be done without the support of the detractors who are making it abundantly clear that they're not down with any robust economic relief plan.

And here's another thing: Going forward, COVID- related stimulus checks cut and sent to households must be put on what economists call autopilot. Simply put, economic relief payments would continue until key labor market and health metrics indicate that we've climbed out of the hole. Those metrics could consist of several indicators, including, for instance, the unemployment rate and COVID infection rates. An economic knuckle game might, for instance, insist that relief payments continue until there's a fall in these indicators for at least two consecutive quarters. Once this happens, the process of ceasing payments could begin. But until then, until there is clear evidence that the victims of Trumpism can breathe again, the monthly payments keep coming.

As economist Claudia Sahm observes, this approach changes the question that stands in need of being addressed:

"The question too many lawmakers seem to be asking is, 'How much is enough?' while 'When have we done enough?' is the better question."

To that latter question--"When have we done enough?"-- Sahm drops this gem:

"When those 10 million jobs still missing are back, when the half of families who have lost income from work are made whole, and when those who had to leave their jobs because of extra parenting burdens begin to return--that's when relief should turn off."

That's in the spirit of an economics knuckle game. It fights against the tying of economic relief payments to an arbitrarily chosen date upon which benefits cease to be paid, regardless of whether people are still being crushed by COVID and economically pummeled by the pandemic. The payments keep coming until there is clear evidence that we've turned the corner.

Perfect? Nope. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But it's far superior to the regular run of the mill stuff, and it's naive to posture in such a way that you make the perfect the enemy of the good. Millions are still getting slammed and slapped by Trumpism.

If we're serious about standing in solidarity with the least of these, then we better tighten up our knuckle game.

Catch you on the flip side,

Doc Greene