Where Did the Jobs Go?

Shaquille O’Neal is getting some well-deserved attention for going back to school and getting a doctorate. But as we note in our latest Huffington Post post, he’s an exception in more ways than one. We all know that few student athletes make it in professional sports. What’s not as well known is that shockingly few Americans students manage to complete college at all.

And that’s doesn’t bode well for jobs. Check out these stats from Complete College America, and the full post.

The short answer is yes — if we can all just stop tilting the evidence to win the current spin cycle. Check out our latest post at National Geographic’s Great Energy Challenge blog.

From our latest at the Huffington Post:

We need to do something we just aren’t good at: having a serious debate on how to tackle a near-term problem while also looking at what to do for the future. As the candidates for president and Congress begin offering up their ideas on “jobs,” voters need to consider whether their proposals are aimed at creating jobs quickly or whether they’re aimed at strengthening the job picture over the long haul, say the next decade or two.

The truth is the country really needs both, but we can’t expect short-term cures to fix long-term problems (like job losses due to globalization or technology), and we can’t expect long-term solutions to kick in quickly. You probably won’t hear any subtleties like this on the campaign trail. Generally speaking, politicians are in the confusion business, so drawing these kinds of distinctions isn’t their strong suit. Here’s a quick tour of some of the jobs ideas out there and their short-term and long-term implications.

Which is more important: making solar panels cheap or making them here?

In our latest Huffington Post blog, we look at the debate over government regulation — how much it really matters for jobs, and whether the current debate is even looking in the right place:

In the end, there’s not much point worrying about the issues surrounding complex federal laws while still making small business owners run around City Hall with folders of perforated papers looking for someone who still handles microfilm processing.

It’s amazing to look at the shifts over time. The move from manufacturing to services is well known, but that’s only the start of the story.

mattstiles:

After 72 years, the U.S. Census Bureau today released data from its decennial count in 1940. The release includes a fascinating graphic about how Americans have changed over time. Here’s just one section, comparing our workforce: 

There’s much more in the graphic: housing, demographics, etc. Check it out. 

(Source: mattstiles)

Our latest Huffington Post piece points out that an episode of Friends is actually prescient about a problem facing young people in the workforce: it’s getting harder to get ahead on jobs and wages, and has been for some time. Still, some bets are better than others, and education does pay off in higher wages and lower unemployment rates, as this Bureau of Labor Statistics chart shows: