![THE LABOR MARKET IS BROKEN](https://cdn.magzter.com/1350668721/1668426276/articles/hUJsRn8wg1673325648796/THE-LABOR-MARKET-IS-BROKEN.jpg)
There are plenty of uncharitable theories about why the American work force is shrinking as a percentage of the population, resulting in 10 million unfilled jobs and a lot of well-wrung hands. The most common is simply that Kids These Days don't want to work and it'll be Gen Z's fault when the U.S. is no longer a global economic superpower.
A substantial number of younger people are not, in fact, keen to get hitched with an employer. In 2022, "for every [25to 54-year-old] guy who is out of work and looking for a job," American Enterprise Institute economist Nicholas Eberstadt told the Fifth Column podcast, "there are four guys who are neither working nor looking for work." But the Kids These Days hypothesis is complicated by the fact that while the labor force participation rate includes people 16 and older, the largest component of the most recent reduction appears to be older people who took retirement early and/or previous retirees who have not rejoined the work force at the rates they once did. This trend may well reverse itself if the stock market continues to decline and retirement accounts evaporate, but for now it looks like baby boomers turning on, tuning in, and dropping out-however belatedly are at least as much of a labor force problem as wayward youths.
WHAT THESE TWO groups have in common can be found in an old chestnut of game theory: the ultimatum game. Even if you don't know the 1982 paper that popularized the experiment, you've certainly encountered the phenomenon. Imagine two people, one of whom is given $10 and told to propose a way to split the money with another person-a stranger, let's say. The catch is that if the stranger doesn't agree to the deal, they both get nothing.
Economists and psychologists alike love this experiment because it captures an interesting facet of human behavior that appears irrational at first glance.
Esta historia es de la edición January 2023 de Reason magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 2023 de Reason magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
![Gimme Shelter - The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/7L3_hXfEF1716807414332/crp_Cicero-Institute-Miami-Dade-County-DeSantis-San-Francisco-homeless-housing-Shelter-street-life-homeless-people-Florida-unsheltered-people-camps.jpg)
Gimme Shelter - The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?
The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?
![AI Is Coming for Hollywood's Jobs](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1674862/Ve4hizXCH1715861515356/crp_AI-IS-COMING-FOR-HOLLYWOODS-JOBS.jpg)
AI Is Coming for Hollywood's Jobs
But so is everyone else.
![AI Can Do Paperwork Doctors Hate](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1674862/rz9rRA3WY1715860211483/crp_AI-CAN-DO-PAPERWORK-DOCTORS-HATE.jpg)
AI Can Do Paperwork Doctors Hate
With help from AI, doctors can focus on patients.
![Antitrust May Smother the Power of AI](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1674862/W_3__zCnk1715859361247/crp_ANTITRUST-MAY-SMOTHER-THE-POWER-OF-AI.jpg)
Antitrust May Smother the Power of AI
Left alone, AI could actually help small firms compete with tech giants.
![A Brief, Biased History of the Culture Wars](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/OvLogwJCm1716810942924/A-BRIEF-BIASED-HISTORY-OF-THE-CULTURE-WARS.jpg)
A Brief, Biased History of the Culture Wars
THE FIRST PAR AGR APH of the book jacket lays it out: “There is a common belief that we live in unprecedented times, that people are too sensitive today, that nobody objected to the actions of actors, comedians, and filmmakers in the past.
![FAMILIES NEED A VIBE SHIFT](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/cNB_secPV1716810372178/FAMILIES-NEED-A-VIBE-SHIFT.jpg)
FAMILIES NEED A VIBE SHIFT
THE AUTHORS OF FOUR NEW BOOKSWITH 24 KIDS BETWEEN THEM-SAY THE AMERICAN FAMILY NEEDS A COURSE CORRECTION.
!["The Past Is There To Teach Us What Can Happen'](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/vVkrvhsyF1716810036110/THE-PAST-IS-THERE-TO-TEACH-US-WHAT-CAN-HAPPEN.jpg)
"The Past Is There To Teach Us What Can Happen'
Hardcore History's Dan Carlin on hero worship and moral assumptions in the study of the past
![Cutting Off Israel](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/hGbGltLSw1716809681186/CUTTING-OFF-ISRAEL.jpg)
Cutting Off Israel
ENDING U.S. AID WOULD GIVE WASHINGTON LESS LEVERAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THAT’S WHY IT’S WORTH DOING.
![WHAT CAUSED THE D.C.CRIME WAVE?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/0IWKFgEvS1716809230471/WHAT-CAUSED-THE-DCCRIME-WAVE.jpg)
WHAT CAUSED THE D.C.CRIME WAVE?
GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT, NOT SENTENCING REFORM OR SPARSE SOCIAL SPENDING, DESERVES THE BLAME.
![States Turn Their Backs on Criminal Justice Reform](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/1648/1702382/oReWXHowA1716807071768/STATES-TURN-THEIR-BACKS-ON-CRIMINAL-JUSTICE-REFORM.jpg)
States Turn Their Backs on Criminal Justice Reform
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to avoid the “strange bedfellows” cliché when reading about the criminal justice reform movement in the 2010s.