Why Reducing Jobless Benefits is Unwise

U-T San Diego -- Alan Gin is associate professor of economics at the University of San Diego, where he created and continues to publish the San Diego County Index of Leading Economic Indicators, now in its 20th year.

As part of the recently passed legislation that extended the payroll tax cut, Congress also limited the maximum duration of unemployment insurance benefits, so that the unemployed living in high-unemployment states such as California would be limited to 73 weeks of benefits as opposed to the current 99 weeks. Why would Congress do this, even in the face of high long-term unemployment? (Full Story)