Last Thursday, President Obama proposed new federal jobs and job-training programs for youth and the long-term unemployed. The federal government has experimented with these programs for almost a half century. The record is one of failure and scandal.
In 1962, Congress passed the Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA) to provide training for workers who lost their jobs due to automation or other technological developments.
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Congress responded in 1973 by enacting the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). The preface to the new law noted that "it has been impossible to develop rational priorities" in job training. So instead of setting priorities, CETA spent vastly more money, especially on job creation.
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Between 1961 and 1980, the feds spent tens of billions on federal job-training and employment programs. To what effect? A 1979 Washington Post investigation concluded, "Incredibly, the government has kept no meaningful statistics on the effectiveness of these programs—making the past 15 years' effort almost worthless in terms of learning what works."
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After CETA became a laughingstock, Congress replaced it in 1982 with the Job Training Partnership Act. JTPA spent lavishly—to expand an Indiana circus museum, teach Washington taxi drivers to smile, provide foreign junkets for state and local politicians, and bankroll business relocations. According to the Labor Department's inspector general, young trainees were twice as likely to rely on food stamps after JTPA involvement than before since the "training" often included instructions on applying for an array of government benefits.
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The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) replaced JTPA in 1998. Congress required a thorough evaluation of the law's impact on trainees by 2005. At last report, the Labor Department is promising it will be completed by 2015.
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More recently, Mr. Obama's 2009 stimulus package expanded federally funded summer jobs.
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Did any of this "investing" work? There's no evidence it did.
Mr. Obama also wants a new federal initiative to be based on Georgia Work$ ...
Begun in 2003, Georgia Work$ gives people a chance to "train" at an employer for eight weeks.
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After costs exploded, Georgia Work$ was scaled back early this year.
Mark Butler, Georgia's current labor commissioner, stated that the program suffered from a "lack of oversight" before he took over in January. At last report, only 14% of trainees were hired by employers—a success rate akin to other unemployed Georgians who do not participate in the program.
47 overlapping and duplicative programs, @ 18 Billion per year, with poor results even when they bothered to track outcomes.
What's the definition of insanity again?
H/T
House of Eratosthenes
