Economist Danny Blanchflower discusses hidden job market challenges despite low unemployment rates. The podcast explores the impact of job location on accessibility and affordability, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions in urban areas.
Geographic divide in high-cost cities limits access to job opportunities for low-wage workers.
Mismatch between employment rates and job quality raises concerns about the true state of the job market.
Deep dives
Challenges of Geographical Job Disparities
Business Daily explores the issue of job seekers being physically isolated from job opportunities due to businesses and job vacancies located far from their residences. This geographic divide is particularly pronounced in high-cost cities where affordable housing is scarce in neighborhoods with job prospects. The disparity forces low-wage workers to move further away from job hubs, limiting their access to employment.
Mystery of Low Unemployment Rates vs. Job Insecurity
Despite seemingly low official jobless figures post-financial crisis, a deeper look reveals the struggle of ordinary people, especially the youth, in securing stable jobs. The disappearance of good jobs, inadequate hours, and weak wage growth plague less educated individuals, leading to discontent and underemployment. The mismatch between employment rates and job quality raises concerns about the true state of the job market.
Policy Responses to Address Job Crisis
Economists suggest reevaluating central bank strategies to boost employment and wage growth, advocating for substantial infrastructure investments to create jobs. The call for investing in human capital and affordable housing emerges as key solutions to bridge the geographical gap between job seekers and opportunities. By adapting to the modern economy's shift towards innovation sectors, regions can potentially alleviate unemployment and foster economic growth.
Is unemployment in the developed world so low because people have simply given up on finding work? Ed Butler speaks to economist Danny Blanchflower of Dartmouth College, who says that a decade after the global financial crisis, workers in the US and Europe continue tp face a terrible jobs market that is not reflected in the official statistics.
Is the problem that all the well paid jobs are being created in a few rich, expensive cities that are simply inaccessible to the underemployed? That's the contention of Enrico Moretti, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. And according to Christina Stacy of the Urban Institute in Washington DC, even within these cities, service sector workers are finding themselves priced out of the property markets where the job opportunities exist.
(Photo: A homeless man sleeping on a sidewalk in San Francisco, California. Credit: Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode