Could a city offset high unemployment at a local level?
Or rather, could a party run a campaign to minimise unemployment at a local level, and then successfully implement it?
Theory: a city like Christchurch or Wellington could protect themselves from an unemployment boom by electing a majority-socialist council (either one party like Alliance or in coalition with parties and independents) that ran a zero-unemployment-type economy for regional economics, by essentially soaking up the unemployment pool via local Labour.
Let’s start on the assumption that the economy is not going to get better *for people* (though the K-shape economy will probably continue: re sharemarkets, possibly even through the impending economic crisis signalled by the current war and oil crisis). Let’s also assume we either have an incompetent idealistic National government running austerity, which will deepen and lengthen the recession, or some sort of piss weak ”fruit and vege/3 free gp visit” Labour government that has watered down the Greens actual economic plan for saving us from the fluctuating unemployment rate with Green Jobs.
Which seems likely.
Councils, as overleveraged as they are, do have other fiscal mechanisms open to them and could petition government for more (depending on swing/PM). The effects of a low/no unemployment are mostly local, and could be locally funded. Christchurch has already had high employment through the earthquakes, so is a good demonstration of how a city and nation can outspend a recession for the benefit of all. With the willingness to go into temporary deliberate debt to grow city GDP (and a fiscal recovery plan + redistribution via a wider array of rates charged and land taxes and possibly even non-land-based revenue gathering), one very goal-orientated council could create a localised boom that soaked up unemployment via targeted infrastructure projects with social good behind them.
Obviously this would be unpopular with the right and the rich, and also incredibly difficult, and the implementers would need an excellent grasp of leftist economics and the mitigations that need to be managed when that’s implemented, as well as also be politically capable. That’s no small ask. But also two cities could ostensibly do it right now: Wellington City Council and Christchurch City Council. Wellington have their radical left local government lean with its Greens/Labour backing and Christchurch have Alliance. I genuinely think either or both of these cities could run a london-style political economic bid to implement local level socialist economics to offset the harms neoliberalism is doing to the populace through the low growth economy.
With a mandate and the right political timing, this could be viable and the worst economic consequences of (inflation and high council debt) offset with prudent management and good planning. I.e. Asset sales would probably be needed, but like… by the next administration. The first three year administration would built assets using capital to then sell deliberatively at high prices, instead of this ideological struggle between obvious left and right that currently occurs in literally every local council.
Thoughts? Unforeseen consequences? What am I missing, other than political will and all the ingredients?