👷 Labor Economics

Analyses of how labor markets function—covering wages, employment, inequality, and the forces reshaping work in an era of automation and globalization.

Rise of the Robots

by Martin Ford • 2015

Productivity soars, wages stagnate, and education won't fix it. The real economics of automation.

3.96

10k+

🤖 Technological Unemployment 🧠 Artificial Intelligence 📉 Income Inequality 💰 Basic Income 🔮 Future Of Work

Rise of the Robots

Productivity soars, wages stagnate, and education won't fix it. The real economics of automation.

by Martin Ford 2015

3.96

10k+ ratings

🤖 Technological Unemployment 🧠 Artificial Intelligence 📉 Income Inequality 💰 Basic Income 🔮 Future Of Work

Beauty Pays

by Daniel S. Hamermesh • 2011

Good-looking workers earn 8% more. Unattractive ones earn 13% less. It's not speculation; it's data.

3.17

142

🏢 Sociology Of Work 👁️ Appearance Bias 🧠 Behavioral Economics 💍 Mating Markets 📊 Economic Inequality

Beauty Pays

Good-looking workers earn 8% more. Unattractive ones earn 13% less. It's not speculation; it's data.

by Daniel S. Hamermesh 2011

3.17

142 ratings

🏢 Sociology Of Work 👁️ Appearance Bias 🧠 Behavioral Economics 💍 Mating Markets 📊 Economic Inequality

The New Geography Of Jobs

by Enrico Moretti • 2012

A single innovation job creates five local ones, but only where the cluster already exists.

4.03

3k+

🗺️ Economic Geography 💡 Innovation Clusters 🎓 Human Capital 🚚 Geographic Mobility ⚖️ Spatial Inequality

The New Geography Of Jobs

A single innovation job creates five local ones, but only where the cluster already exists.

by Enrico Moretti 2012

4.03

3k+ ratings

🗺️ Economic Geography 💡 Innovation Clusters 🎓 Human Capital 🚚 Geographic Mobility ⚖️ Spatial Inequality

The Case Against Education

by Bryan Caplan • 2018

A degree's value certifies who you already were, not what you learned.

3.94

2k+

📚 Education Economics 📜 Credentialism 📡 Signaling Theory 🏫 Education Skepticism 🎯 Positional Goods

The Case Against Education

A degree's value certifies who you already were, not what you learned.

by Bryan Caplan 2018

3.94

2k+ ratings

📚 Education Economics 📜 Credentialism 📡 Signaling Theory 🏫 Education Skepticism 🎯 Positional Goods

A World Without Men

by Aaron Clarey • 2023

Civilization runs on male labor. Remove it, and the grid fails, food stops, GDP drops by a fifth.

4.08

121

👷 Gender And Work 📉 Male Labor Force 🔧 Skilled Trades ⚡ Infrastructure Fragility 🧬 Evolutionary Psychology

A World Without Men

Civilization runs on male labor. Remove it, and the grid fails, food stops, GDP drops by a fifth.

by Aaron Clarey 2023

4.08

121 ratings

👷 Gender And Work 📉 Male Labor Force 🔧 Skilled Trades ⚡ Infrastructure Fragility 🧬 Evolutionary Psychology

The Technology Trap

by Carl Benedikt Frey • 2019

The telescope helps you see. The power loom takes your job. Which one is AI?

4.10

657

🏛️ Economic History 🏭 Industrial Revolution 🤖 Technological Unemployment ⚖️ Inequality And Technology 🗺️ Geographic Inequality

The Technology Trap

The telescope helps you see. The power loom takes your job. Which one is AI?

by Carl Benedikt Frey 2019

4.10

657 ratings

🏛️ Economic History 🏭 Industrial Revolution 🤖 Technological Unemployment ⚖️ Inequality And Technology 🗺️ Geographic Inequality

People, Power, and Profits

by Joseph E. Stiglitz • 2019

Monopoly power and political capture broke American prosperity. A Nobel economist's plan to fix it.

3.88

2k+

📉 Economic Inequality 🏛️ Political Economy 🏢 Antitrust And Monopoly 💰 Rent Seeking 🤝 Stakeholder Capitalism

People, Power, and Profits

Monopoly power and political capture broke American prosperity. A Nobel economist's plan to fix it.

by Joseph E. Stiglitz 2019

3.88

2k+ ratings

📉 Economic Inequality 🏛️ Political Economy 🏢 Antitrust And Monopoly 💰 Rent Seeking 🤝 Stakeholder Capitalism

Average Is Over

by Tyler Cowen • 2013

The labor market is now a chess match: winning means teaming up with the machine.

3.64

2k+

🔮 Future Of Work 🤖 Technological Unemployment 🤝 Human-Machine Teams 💸 Wage Inequality 🚚 Gig Economy

Average Is Over

The labor market is now a chess match: winning means teaming up with the machine.

by Tyler Cowen 2013

3.64

2k+ ratings

🔮 Future Of Work 🤖 Technological Unemployment 🤝 Human-Machine Teams 💸 Wage Inequality 🚚 Gig Economy

Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism

by Anne Case • 2020

Less-educated white Americans are dying younger. The cause is not drugs or suicide; it's capitalism.

3.81

2k+

🏥 Public Health ⚖️ Health Inequality 💊 Opioid Crisis 🏚️ Deindustrialization 📊 Economic Inequality

Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism

Less-educated white Americans are dying younger. The cause is not drugs or suicide; it's capitalism.

by Anne Case 2020

3.81

2k+ ratings

🏥 Public Health ⚖️ Health Inequality 💊 Opioid Crisis 🏚️ Deindustrialization 📊 Economic Inequality

The End of Burnout

by Jonathan Malesic • 2022

Burnout is a cultural crisis, not a personal illness. The cure is fewer hours and real leisure.

3.73

587

📊 Sociology Of Work 🧯 Burnout Recovery 🏢 Workplace Culture ✊ Anti-Work Critique 🎭 Emotional Labor

The End of Burnout

Burnout is a cultural crisis, not a personal illness. The cure is fewer hours and real leisure.

by Jonathan Malesic 2022

3.73

587 ratings

📊 Sociology Of Work 🧯 Burnout Recovery 🏢 Workplace Culture ✊ Anti-Work Critique 🎭 Emotional Labor

Can’t We Just Print More Money?

by The Bank of England • 2022

Why can't we just print more money? A central bank answers this, and nine other economic puzzles.

4.05

2k+

🎓 Introductory Economics 🏦 Central Banking ⚠️ Market Failures 💸 Inflation And Money 📈 Economic Growth

Can’t We Just Print More Money?

Why can't we just print more money? A central bank answers this, and nine other economic puzzles.

by The Bank of England 2022

4.05

2k+ ratings

🎓 Introductory Economics 🏦 Central Banking ⚠️ Market Failures 💸 Inflation And Money 📈 Economic Growth

The Race between Education and Technology

by Claudia Goldin • 2008

The 20th century's inequality curve has a single engine: how fast education kept pace with machines.

3.81

189

📈 Economic History 🏫 Education Policy 👷 Human Capital 💰 Income Inequality ⚙️ Technological Change

The Race between Education and Technology

The 20th century's inequality curve has a single engine: how fast education kept pace with machines.

by Claudia Goldin 2008

3.81

189 ratings

📈 Economic History 🏫 Education Policy 👷 Human Capital 💰 Income Inequality ⚙️ Technological Change

The Case for Good Jobs

by Zeynep Ton • 2023

Low wages hide costs that cripple a business. Paying workers well is the most profitable choice.

4.12

165

🧑‍💼 Frontline Management 💰 Living Wages 🔄 Employee Retention ⚙️ Operational Excellence 🌐 Stakeholder Capitalism

The Case for Good Jobs

Low wages hide costs that cripple a business. Paying workers well is the most profitable choice.

by Zeynep Ton 2023

4.12

165 ratings

🧑‍💼 Frontline Management 💰 Living Wages 🔄 Employee Retention ⚙️ Operational Excellence 🌐 Stakeholder Capitalism

How Migration Really Works

by Hein de Haas • 2023

Migration hasn't surged in sixty years. Nearly everything politicians say about it is backwards.

4.35

3k+

🔬 Migration Studies 🌱 Development Economics 🚧 Border Politics 🔍 Migration Myths 📊 Evidence-Based Politics

How Migration Really Works

Migration hasn't surged in sixty years. Nearly everything politicians say about it is backwards.

by Hein de Haas 2023

4.35

3k+ ratings

🔬 Migration Studies 🌱 Development Economics 🚧 Border Politics 🔍 Migration Myths 📊 Evidence-Based Politics

Men Without Work

by Nicholas Eberstadt • 2016

Seven million prime-age men have quit the workforce entirely. The problem isn't a lack of jobs.

3.41

501

📊 Workforce Participation 🏛️ Welfare Reform 🔗 Mass Incarceration 🚹 Male Identity Crisis 📺 Social Disengagement

Men Without Work

Seven million prime-age men have quit the workforce entirely. The problem isn't a lack of jobs.

by Nicholas Eberstadt 2016

3.41

501 ratings

📊 Workforce Participation 🏛️ Welfare Reform 🔗 Mass Incarceration 🚹 Male Identity Crisis 📺 Social Disengagement

The Profit Paradox

by Jan Eeckhout • 2021

Since 1980, corporate profits have soared while wages stayed flat. The common thread: market power.

3.91

302

💪 Market Power 📉 Wage Stagnation ⚖️ Economic Inequality 🔨 Antitrust Reform 🏢 Corporate Consolidation

The Profit Paradox

Since 1980, corporate profits have soared while wages stayed flat. The common thread: market power.

by Jan Eeckhout 2021

3.91

302 ratings

💪 Market Power 📉 Wage Stagnation ⚖️ Economic Inequality 🔨 Antitrust Reform 🏢 Corporate Consolidation

Worthless

by Aaron Clarey • 2011

The labor market's college report card: which majors earn and which are a $40,000 mistake.

3.99

339

🧭 Career Guidance 🎓 Higher Education 🤔 College Skepticism 💼 Career Pragmatism 📈 Human Capital Theory

Worthless

The labor market's college report card: which majors earn and which are a $40,000 mistake.

by Aaron Clarey 2011

3.99

339 ratings

🧭 Career Guidance 🎓 Higher Education 🤔 College Skepticism 💼 Career Pragmatism 📈 Human Capital Theory

Not Working

by D.W. Gibson • 2012

What a paycheck conceals: Americans on the identity, health, and dignity that left with the job.

3.68

🎙️ Oral History 💸 Economic Precarity 🔨 Work And Identity 📉 Great Recession 🔄 Career Transitions

Not Working

What a paycheck conceals: Americans on the identity, health, and dignity that left with the job.

by D.W. Gibson 2012

3.68

60 ratings

🎙️ Oral History 💸 Economic Precarity 🔨 Work And Identity 📉 Great Recession 🔄 Career Transitions

Two Sports Myths and Why They're Wrong

by Rodney D. Fort • 2013

Player salaries don't raise ticket prices, and baseball isn't fading. Two myths the data reverses.

🏟️ Sports Economics 💼 Sports Business 🔍 Economic Myths 🧪 Empirical Economics 📺 Media Economics

Two Sports Myths and Why They're Wrong

Player salaries don't raise ticket prices, and baseball isn't fading. Two myths the data reverses.

by Rodney D. Fort 2013

🏟️ Sports Economics 💼 Sports Business 🔍 Economic Myths 🧪 Empirical Economics 📺 Media Economics

The Economics of Inequality

by Thomas Piketty • 1997

Inequality fell through war and taxes, not growth. When those forces weakened, the gap widened.

3.65

2k+

🏦 Economic Inequality 💰 Redistribution Policy 🕳️ Poverty Traps 🛡️ Social Insurance 🎓 Human Capital

The Economics of Inequality

Inequality fell through war and taxes, not growth. When those forces weakened, the gap widened.

by Thomas Piketty 1997

3.65

2k+ ratings

🏦 Economic Inequality 💰 Redistribution Policy 🕳️ Poverty Traps 🛡️ Social Insurance 🎓 Human Capital

Everything for Sale

by Robert Kuttner • 1997

Every real market depends on rules it cannot create, and a democracy it can easily consume.

3.94

🏛️ Political Economy ⚠️ Market Failures 🌐 Public Goods 🗳️ Social Democracy 📐 Institutional Economics

Everything for Sale

Every real market depends on rules it cannot create, and a democracy it can easily consume.

by Robert Kuttner 1997

3.94

80 ratings

🏛️ Political Economy ⚠️ Market Failures 🌐 Public Goods 🗳️ Social Democracy 📐 Institutional Economics

Hell to Pay

by Michael Lind • 2023

Stagnant wages aren't fate. They were engineered by a decades-long campaign to crush worker power.

3.93

🏛️ Political Economy 💸 Wage Inequality 🪧 Union Decline 🎓 Credentialism 🏢 Corporate Power

Hell to Pay

Stagnant wages aren't fate. They were engineered by a decades-long campaign to crush worker power.

by Michael Lind 2023

3.93

80 ratings

🏛️ Political Economy 💸 Wage Inequality 🪧 Union Decline 🎓 Credentialism 🏢 Corporate Power

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👷 Labor Economics

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