Tag: Unemployment
The real reason young people can’t get jobs in Africa
September 20, 2017 | Post
Given that Africa has the world’s youngest population, the lack of steady, formal-sector jobs is an enormous political and economic risk factor. Unemployed youth are more likely to be criminals, may be lured into militant groups, and contribute to political unrest.
Won't someone think about the disemployed steel workers?
March 11, 2017 | Post
Joe works in a Pennsylvania steel mill. Many of Joe’s fellow Americans start buying more imported steel and, hence, less American-made steel. Because of this change in trade patterns, Joe – a good, hard-working, honest, play-by-the-rules, middle-aged family man who toiled in the steel mill all of his adult life – loses his job. Joe […]
So did Obamanomics work or not?
January 29, 2017 | Post
How to evaluate the economic record of Barack Obama? To even begin answering, it’s necessary to go beyond just counting the number of jobs created during his presidency (10 million) or calculating the average growth rate (1.5%) or even looking at something more wonky like the labor force participation rate.
Two minimum wage charts for the minimum wage supporter
January 7, 2017 | Post
The glowing claims about minimum wage laws don’t pass the most basic economic smell tests. Just look at the data from Europe.
When Jobs Kill Wealth
September 4, 2016 | Post
A focus on jobs missing the forest for the trees. We should be focused on creating wealth, not maximizing employment.
Why Abby Can’t Work, and What Candidates Plan to Do About It.
June 28, 2016 | Post
Abby Hobbs [name changed for privacy] is not the type of person you’d classify as lazy or naïve. As a digital strategist at a small marketing firm, her enthusiasm for and knowledge of her industry are obvious whenever she talks about her job. But, as she told Learn Liberty, getting there wasn’t easy. As a […]
How Government Helps White Criminals
June 26, 2016 | Post
In an attempt to help black people and ex-convicts land jobs, policymakers have increased the employment prospects of white ex-convicts. Professor Alex Tabarrok explains this case of public policy’s unintended consequences in a post over at Marginal Revolution. The policy: Policymakers banned the “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” box from job applications. […]
Raising the Minimum Wage Cannot Benefit the Economy
June 13, 2016 | Post
In the current debate about the minimum wage, some argue that higher minimum wages boost the economy overall. If workers receive higher wages, the reasoning goes, then they will have more money to spend, and their increased spending will boost business all around. In this news video, for example, an activist in the citizen action […]
Open Letter, Part 2: Minimum Wage Laws Are Immoral
May 20, 2016 | Post
Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of an open letter from Prof. Howard Baetjer to a friend who commented on one of his Facebook posts about minimum wage laws. You can view part 1 here.Baetjer and his friend, Adam, look at the minimum wage issue from very different perspectives, so Baetjer wrote an open letter. […]
Why Is Unemployment Persistently High for Low-Skilled People?
December 28, 2015 | Post
A student recently asked me why unemployment remains so stubbornly high, especially for lower-skilled people. Here’s an adaptation of my answer. No one can know for sure the precise causes of unemployment; the economy is a fantastically complex system, like an ecology but still more complex, so unemployment is sure to have a variety of […]
On Creative Destruction and Self-Driving Cars
October 30, 2015 | Post
The capabilities of self-driving cars are growing rapidly, and some sources predict they will become the primary means of transportation by 2040. However, “Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people—truckers, cabbies, delivery people—drive for a living in the USA”, and these drivers are likely to lose their jobs if they could be replaced by self-driving […]
Economic Freedom: A Humanitarian Case
October 16, 2015 | Post
Without economic freedom, we cannot exercise our other freedoms. The freedom to speak is meaningless if the government prevents us from traveling from our homes or paying for a phone call. The freedom to write is meaningless if the government prevents us from selling newspapers. The freedom to worship is meaningless if the government forces […]