BRIAN SNYDER
Some of the best clicks on the Web
Structural unemployment, monster or myth?
Much has been written lately on the 'structural unemployment' in the U.S. economy where, supposedly, much of the current joblessness is nothing more than a mismatch between skills required and talentss being offered, and can't be cured by an increase in aggregate demand. The Economic Policy Institute issued a report on Friday debunking this theory. Paul Krugman examines the report and points to Britain of the late 1980s and early 1990s if policy makers want to see what structural unemployment really looks like. Naked capitalism has assigned the term to its Orwell watch, and says the now-common catchphrase is just an excuse to do nothing.
How Detroit handed China its 'moon shot'
Naked capitalist takes a look at China's race to become the leader in electric cars and how Detroit steered America' nascent EV industry over the cliff in the 1990s.
Sweden, Belgium, Norway top Women's Economic Opportunity Index
On VoxEU, an update on the progress that women are making in the global work force. Women today comprise more than half of the global work force but their wages and economic opportunities still lag behind those of men.
When efforts to stimulate credit demand don't work
Brian Milner of The Globe suggests lone Fed contrarian Thomas Hoenig may have a point in arguing for higher interest rates. With rates so low, it's a lose-lose for the banks, who not only have to fear further defaults if borrowers go belly-up, but earn very little over the long term from customers who make steady payments.