Labor

What will empower a worker to be able to make greater demands on a profitable economy or employer? The answer may be summed up in one word: leverage.

The U.S. economy is increasingly becoming a dual economy, where high productivity sectors—such as manufacturing—and high pay sectors—such as finance and professional services—co-exist with low pay and low productivity sectors that employ most workers.

This paper provides novel insights on the changing functional distribution of income in the post–war US economy.

Artificial intelligence promises to make our lives easier. But is the cost losing some of our humanity?

Economist Marie Mora discusses the deep economic crisis that has afflicted Puerto Rico for years

With journalism moving from a stable to a precarious profession, digital media workers have become some of the most organized in the startup world

Artificial intelligence doesn’t have to be a job killer—if we use it right

One of America’s leading socialists discusses how a collectively owned economy would be structured, the limits of the welfare state, and what Keynes understood that Marx didn’t

When workers are classified as independent contractors instead of employees, they fall into a hole not covered by many labor protections

As automation takes on more routine tasks, work will become more about creativity, ethics, and empathy

As technology and deregulation continue to shape the labor market, maintaining strong worker protections is as important as ever

US counties with prison labor often have lower wage and employment growth

Prisoners employed in manufacturing constitute 4.2% of total U.S. manufacturing employment in 2005; they produce cheap goods, creating labor demand shock.

Decades before it caught on with other economists, Sadie Alexander was the first economist to recommend a government jobs guarantee in the US

Economic distress in rural areas and opioid exposure in cities are key indicators of overdose deaths