ECONOMISTS JUST DON'T GET OUT MUCH

Tyler Cowen writes about unemployment as if he never bothered to get more information than the basic statistics and I find this weakness striking in this paragraph:

Many of these labor market problems were brought on by the financial crisis and the collapse of market demand. But it would be a mistake to place all the blame on the business cycle. Before the crisis, for example, business executives and owners didn’t always know who their worst workers were, or didn’t want to engage in the disruptive act of rooting out and firing them. So long as sales were brisk, it was easier to let matters lie. But when money ran out, many businesses had to make the tough decisions — and the axes fell. The financial crisis thus accelerated what would have been a much slower process.

First. he ignores the prevalence of the "last hired, first hired" rule of thumb and second, without evidence he assumes that executives and owners were pretty much clueless about their employees until the Great Recession spurred them to acquire the relevant knowledge.

Glenn Hubbard makes a lame attempt to blame the lower work force participation rate among young Americans on the increased likelihood that they will get on SSDI and like Cowen, he offers no evidence. He also doesn't realize that the EITC does apply to individuals without famlies.