Mike Meeropol writes: "Has the Sam Bowles/Julie Schor time series of the "cost of losing your job" been updated through the present. That's a useful index, IMHO, for what Jim seems to be concluding..." I don't know if it's been updated. Does anyone on pen-l who's at UMass- Amherst know? Even if there may be some measurement problems with the C-O-J-L (the most common usually mentioned being excessive aggregation) it's a useful concept. As Mike notes, I was trying to say that even though the U rate has fallen, the C-O-J-L has stayed high. Partly this reflects the extended period of high unemployment that Mike stresses. It also reflects government cut-backs on the "social safety net" (strange isn't it that Ronald Raygun -- or rather his scriptwriters -- coined that phrase?), the rise in the consumer debt load, the shrinkage of union power, etc. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA 90045-2699 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
