These authors argue that traditional measures of employment and unemployment are not adequate. In the traditional data, a low-paying job counts as much as a high-paying one. The authors create new indicators to determine how well Americans are doing. They show that a strikingly low percentage of...

The author contends that the unemployment rate is a poor measure of both the state of worker welfare and labor market efficiency. It is especially inadequate when trying to compare economic vitality to other nations. Are there better ways? The author presents useful proposals.

Inflexible labor markets are said to be the most important cause of economic stagnation and high unemployment rates. So certain are some advocates of this claim that casual observers might believe it is undisputed. These three economists show how flimsy the empirical support for such a claim...