The wage subsidy did not compensate them for the problems this caused, and many firms soon dropped out.

ECONOMIST: Unemployment policy

Of those who joined in January, 30% had a job, subsidised or unsubsidised, by August though it is impossible to say how many would have found work anyway, and too early to know how many of those with subsidised jobs will keep them when the six-month wage subsidy runs out.

ECONOMIST: The New Deal

The wage-subsidy scheme, though, was too modest to be meaningful and the stimulus package has expired.

ECONOMIST: America's jobless men: Decline of the working man | The

In a faint echo of the 1970s Congress introduced a wage-subsidy scheme last year.

ECONOMIST: America's jobless men: Decline of the working man | The

Obama could have proposed a tax credit that would boost the insurance subsidy for low-wage workers while cutting it for those at the top of the food chain.

FORBES: Obama's Cap On Tax Deductions: Not What It Seems

By limiting the subsidy to a quarter of the drop in a worker's hourly wage, Mr Kling makes sure no one is rewarded for simply putting in fewer hours.

ECONOMIST: Economics focus: Dolling up the dole | The

Gone, or at least reduced, is the subsidy China gives to foreign consumers at the expense of Chinese consumers through a low-wage, low-cost policy.

FORBES: China Recalculates: Slow Down And Be Happy