The American worker is in crisis and faces a very uncertain future. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a deep recession and millions of layoffs.
Even before coronavirus— despite a decade of continuous economic growth— the percentage of Americans with jobs was well below normal levels. Many people had dropped out of the labor force, and gave up looking for work. For the first time in modern memory, life expectancy started to fall as substance abuse and obesity rates rose.
Our guest, conservative author Oren Cass, argues that we've abandoned the American worker, and pushed four-college at the expense of more effective solutions.
In his widely-praised book, "The Once and Future Worker", Oren argues that government policy should emphasize production, not consumption. His arguments were summarized in The Atlantic.
Read moreThe Coronavirus pandemic is the 21st century's biggest crisis to date: Worse than either 9/11 or the great recession. Jim and Richard discuss seven surprising things that we didn't know when the lockdowns began in March.
From the economy, politics and education to the deeply uneven impacts on people in different jobs and regions, we discuss the rapidly changing nature of the pandemic and its vast disruption to our world.
Read moreTens of millions of Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus outbreak began. Well over one-in-four people have suffered a moderate or severe financial setback in recent weeks. Consumer confidence is plunging. In this episode we look at the best ways to cope with a sudden drop in income.
Beverly Harzog, the personal finance and credit card expert at US News and World Report, is our guest. She's the author of five bestselling personal finance books.
From keeping your credit score intact to claiming all the benefits you're entitled to; we look at urgent ways to weather the storm at a time of unprecedented economic crisis.
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