-Next Generation Begs for Economic Growth-

Article: Labor Participation Lowest since 1978

Author: Steve Hargreaves

Date of article: September 6, 2013; 3:01 pm

News Source: CNN Money

I chose this article because it pertains to what we have been talking about in class for the past week. Basically, it elaborates on the principle of the production possibility curve in terms of labor and participation in our economy. The article points out that labor force participation has fallen to its lowest percentage since August of 1978, meaning that the percentage of people over 16 who have or are searching for a job has fallen. This means that people are not searching for jobs anymore because the market is full. This number steadily rose after World War II as more and more women entered into the workforce but has been declining ever since. People, right out of college for example, who are entering the job force for the first time, are left in the dark because there are no jobs for them. The lack of jobs is also due to the baby boomers generation nearing retirement age.

 Now this would have been somewhat understandable in 2009, the dreadful year of the great recession, where big banks like AIG and Lehman Brothers were going under and the unemployment rate had reached almost 10%. For the college students graduating that year, the job market looked quite grim and to think almost five years later, we still only have 63% of the population working. That means 37% of the population are not in the work force, this list includes children under 16, the retired, the disabled and a wide variety of other people and demographics. 

These numbers tell us that our economy is not performing at its highest potential that people are skilled and ready to work but the economy is not ready for them. It has not bounced back from its fall in 2009 therefore their skills and ideas are not flourishing as they had the potential to. Our economy is behind, the coming generations will have to settle for jobs that pay less and require less skill than they are capable of. The great minds of tomorrow will be stuck in janitorial positions, mopping up spilt milk, if our economy does not catch up with its people.

                -Hana G.