9 Responses to “The benefits of unemployment insurance”

1. Daedal
   September 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 am

   

   While I see your point, I just don’t undertand how they can afford to live in NYC on unemployment insurance… max is what, $400 a week for new yorkers? I assure you, she has other sources of income (her parents, perhaps, and that’s where the true moral hazard is). As someone who commutes daily to NYC to work (and yes, I’m in the investment industry), as well as knowing people that got laid off from Merill, Suise Re, JP Morgan, GS, Duetche Bank etc… I can tell you that such an example is not typlical. None of them live in NYC any longer, though a large sample of them never did to begin with. Having said that, there are still many people that are recently out of college who are employeed by those aforementioned companies, and who get lots of money for doing nothing truly productive.

2. Mike
   September 3rd, 2009 at 11:35 am

   

   Yeah, 400-500 per week. With a roommate and yes, probably some help from home, she could afford a $2800-3200 a month 1BR in Manhattan.

   I know a few very decent human beings who have been laid off from NYC banks. I don’t mean to paint with too broad a stroke.

   But this girl is not as atypical as one might think — a little extreme here (just a little — this is New York), but nothing so terribly out of the ordinary. There is no shortage of offensive young “high achieving” people in that city, and the US taxpayer finances their lifestyle, whether they are currently employed at a bank or fired in the last 18 months.

3. Ana
   September 3rd, 2009 at 12:07 pm

   

   Working under the assumption that “Daedal” is male, I will point out that he is not taking into account the fact that for reasonably attractive women in their 20s in NYC, there is (or was) no shortage of “old men” who are more than willing to cut a rent check. This girl already uses such men for dinner … her accepting such “gifts” is really is not a stretch at all and is much more common than you may think. It is also basically free to go out in NYC if you are young and female … so 400 a week will more than cover your basic costs.
   Now, the number of such benevolent older souls willing to help out with rent and dinner and such may be dwindling and parents may be less eager to keep forking over rent as their personal wealth declines, so the number of such moochers will inevitably decline.

4. Ana
   September 3rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm

   

   Just came across an amusing blog post in the NY Post by Elliot Spitzer’s former escort:

   http://www.nypost.com/seven/09032009/news/regionalnews/ashley_dupre_blog_rant__187936.htm?page=0

   I know many women who target guys with money and use them to get these things. They toy with them, flirt, go on dates, have sex and then drop hints about that new dress at the store down the street or being short on rent money – and the guys deliver it. This is a dishonest relationship. I see this all over New York City.

   It was sort of part of the culture in NYC during boom times …

5. Jim
   September 3rd, 2009 at 6:27 pm

   

   How dare people have sex.

6. Mike
   September 3rd, 2009 at 6:31 pm

   

   It’s not the sex that offended me, since it sounds like she only gives head, it’s that she doesn’t have the ethic to stay sober enough to do a good job.

7. Daedal
   September 4th, 2009 at 8:17 am

   

   Ana,

   With the amount of attractive women I see going to and from work, I must conclude that there must be other sources of income for most of those obsenely attractive females — they can’t all be models after all. I also I read the NY Post article yesterday — I don’t know if I can call those relationships Dupre lists as ‘dishonest’ per se. If the guy is naive (and I suppose many are), then there’s dishonesty. However, if both parties mutually agree to the nature of the relationship (regardless of what that entails) then that relationship is honest.

8. Ana
   September 4th, 2009 at 9:17 am

   

   Hi Daedal,

   New York is a big place with lots of people - so obviously many attractive women have regular jobs However, given the concentration of wealth, there are also lots of women who get “help” (even if they have regular jobs) and lots of men who are more than willing to help. The way the girl in the article described her life led me to believe that she would not be averse to receiving such help. .. its very simple really - while at dinner with one of the “old men”, look sad for a while, he will ask whats wrong, pretend like nothing is, keep looking sad, finally tell him that you are short on rent and that it is stressing you out, and end of story. However, if that girl is going to go that route, being a drunken slob and skipping out on the gym does not do well for one’s long term prospects or physical appearance

   Having lived in NYC most of my life, I will with full confidence say that most young (under 30) people in New York have very little if any savings. Most are in debt. Especially the women. Even if they have regular jobs that look good on paper. If you don’t plan on saving any money, living it up in NYC is not that hard - all you have to do is cover your basic expenses.

   Regarding the usage of the word “dishonest” - I agree with you, if people are both on the same page, then its not anyone’s business. I would not have used the word “dishonest” - perhaps “of convenience” is a better descriptor. My point is that whatever you want to call such arrangements, there will be less providers in a downturn. Such arrangements provide little or no long term security for the women who come to rely on them, leaving them vulnerable in a downturn. … but really, everyone is vulnerable in a downturn, so it is all relative

9. Heartless
   September 11th, 2009 at 4:38 am

   

   Hard to believe that such an intelligent, composed, and well-focused young bankerette has found herself unemployed. What is this world coming to . . .