Josh Barro has a smart post on unemployment benefits. The conclusion:
A social stigma against unemployment encourages the unemployed to re-enter the workforce even if it does not significantly raise their incomes relative to collecting benefits—leading to greater overall economic output and, in the long term, improving the well-being of the unemployed.
Recessions and their aftermaths are special, and we should worry less than usual about disincentives to work. But we also shouldn’t take our eye off the long game—convincing ourselves that unemployment is involuntary will lead to policy errors in the long run even if it helps us make the right decisions today.
The Dish 