The case for economic turbulence?

Here is my Wall Street Journal review of Clair Brown, John Haltiwanger, and Julia Lane, Economic Turbulence: Is a Volatile Economy Good for America?  Excerpt:

In short, America is not becoming
a nation of part-time Wal-Mart cashiers or burger flippers.  In four of
the five sectors studied by the authors–semiconductors, software,
financial services, retail food and trucking–the growth rate for
full-time jobs exceeds the growth rate for jobs in general.  (Retail
food is the exception.)  Separate research, conducted by Ann Huff
Stevens at the University of California, Davis, shows that the average
tenure for employed U.S. male laborers has been broadly stable over the
past 35 years.

Insofar as individuals move to
lower-paying jobs, the turnover of firms is not the driving cause.  The
most original proposition in "Economic Turbulence" is the claim that a
big part of measured wage declines derives from job downgrades within
firms–sticking with the same employer but moving from, say, mid-level
manager to gopher. 

Comments

Comments for this post are closed