The Path to Full Employment.

The article presents information on path to full employment in relation to Australia. Employment arises because there is a lack of collective will. It does not arise because real wages are too high or aggregate demand too low. These are only proximate causes, if causes at all. The lack of collective will has been the principal casualty of the influence of rationalism. In this paper the proximate cause of unemployment is shown to be a persistent deficiency of aggregate demand. But the underlying cause is that the rise of free market ideology has meant that people are no longer prepared to bear some costs themselves to ensure others have employment. The only way people will return to full employment is if the costs and benefits of economic activity are shared. The public sector must be the vehicle to restore the collective will. In this paper, it is argued that the solution to persistent unemployment is for the Government to act as a Buffer Stock Employer, plus the reintroduction of incomes policy. Further deregulation of the wages system cannot be justified.