Don’t trust low unemployment numbers as proof that the labor market is doing fine—it isn’t. Not Working is about those who can’t find full-time work at a decent wage—the underemployed—and how their plight is contributing to widespread despair, a worsening drug epidemic, and the unchecked rise of right-wing populism.
In this revelatory and outspoken book, David Blanchflower draws on his acclaimed work in the economics of labor and well-being to explain why today’s postrecession economy is vastly different from what came before. He calls out our leaders and policymakers for failing to see the Great Recession coming, and for their continued failure to address one of the most unacknowledged social catastrophes of our time. Blanchflower shows how many workers are underemployed or have simply given up trying to find a well-paying job, how wage growth has not returned to prerecession levels despite rosy employment indicators, and how general prosperity has not returned since the crash of 2008.
Standard economic measures are often blind to these forgotten workers, which is why Blanchflower practices the “economics of walking about”—seeing for himself how ordinary people are faring under the recovery, and taking seriously what they say and do. Not Working is his candid report on how the young and the less skilled are among the worst casualties of underemployment, how immigrants are taking the blame, and how the epidemic of unhappiness and self-destruction will continue to spread unless we deal with it.
Awards and Recognition
- Co-Winner of the Silver Medal in Economics, Axiom Business Book Awards
- One of Prospect's Best Economics Books of 2019
"[Blanchflower] makes a strong case. . . . Should Jeremy Corbyn reach 10 Downing Street, he should ring Dartmouth. I can’t think of a better choice for Bank of England Governor than David Blanchflower."—Howard Reed, Prospect Magazine
"Blanchflower convincingly demonstrates that behind the boasts of high employment lies the phenomenon of widespread underemployment, with many people working less than they want to, or in jobs way beneath their qualifications."—William Keegan, The Observer
"It is the most anticipated economic book."—Tom Keene, Bloomberg Surveillance
"The most interesting parts of the book . . . are the ones that attempt to draw a link between underemployment, hopelessness, and support for radical right-wing politicians. . . . Blanchflower’s main message—that Western economies are in dire straits unless they take more radical measures—is a welcome corrective to the idea that low unemployment numbers indicate rude economic health. As global growth weakens and the world gets used to what looks like a protracted trade war between the U.S. and China, the question of the lack of good jobs is not going away."—Sharon Lam, Reuters Breakingviews
"Wide-ranging and impeccably researched . . . . [Not Working] is an excellent critique of mainstream economics that explains why many advanced economies’ labour markets aren’t working. In doing so, it identifies a number of deep-seated flaws in modern capitalism."—Grace Blakeley, New Statesman
"Challenging and much acclaimed."—Klaus F. Zimmermann, Global Labor Organization
"David Blanchflower’s central theme is the crisis of underemployment and underpayment, yet his title Not Working expresses a more general failure of the global economy as well . . . . for mea culpas and an honest if demoralising insider view, read Blanchflower."—Joanna Kavenna, New Scientist
"Not Working: Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone demonstrates that there are still far too few decent jobs in America . . . . The policies proposed by the current crop of presidential candidates indicate that they have not fully absorbed the lessons of low incomes in America."—Jeff Madrick, Book Post
"I didn’t know I was interested in labor economics, but this new book by [Blanchflower] is really good. It explores the malaise and dysfunction in the US and Europe and argued cogently that the best strategy forward is jobs, jobs, jobs. And he suggests how to get them."—Nicholas Kristof
"This is a searching and incisive study of the labour market and patterns of work, especially since the financial crash of 2008. It highlights connections between employment, economic policy, politics and mental health, shedding a great deal of light on contemporary developments and building on earlier insights from Keynes and Beveridge (‘misery leads to hate’)."—Paradigm Explorer
"In this book, Blanchflower, one of the world’s most respected labour market economists, turns his attention to the long-term unemployed and disenfranchised, and explains how their plight has profound ramifications both for society and business."—People Management
"David Blanchflower delivers a stinging rebuke to his profession, saying economists’ failure to get out into the real world muddled their models."—Edward Luce, Financial Times
"In his innovative analysis . . . Blanchflower doubles down on cheap money, plus revitalised infrastructure spending, to solve the problem of the 'underemployed'—people who can’t get decent full-time jobs."—Prospect
"[Blanchflower] has an impressive command of the literature . . . linking economic decline to indicators of misery."—Jane Humphries and Benjamin Schneider, Project Syndicate
"In this thought-provoking study of the functioning—and malfunctioning—of the labor market, David Blanchflower presents a powerful analysis of one of the most important issues facing our society today: the quest for good jobs. This is a book that will be of interest to economists and policymakers around the world."—Mohamed A. El-Erian, author of The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability, and Avoiding the Next Collapse
"This is economics as it should be: crystal clear, persuasively argued, and enlightening on the big question of our age, namely why so many people feel the economy does not work for them even though unemployment is so low. If you care about how to fix the mess in the rich West, Blanchflower's Not Working is for you."—Robert Peston, political editor, ITV News
"Facts are stubborn things, even in economics. Sometimes it takes a stubborn principled economist to get the facts through the thick head of the economics profession and policymakers. Thankfully, David Blanchflower is just such a stubborn principled economist, and Not Working should finally drive home the realities of today's labor markets to the public and the officials who serve them. The research by Blanchflower underlying Not Working was first provocative, then prescient, and now is pressing for policymakers. Also thankfully, Blanchflower makes the case crystal clear."—Adam S. Posen, President, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, 2009–2012
"David Blanchflower is superlative at piecing together the big picture—a sobering one—from an immense amount of data, both statistical and commonsensical. We need to heed the book's urgent message about another impending crisis."—Nouriel Roubini, coauthor of Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance
"David Blanchflower, a leading labor economist, delivers two trenchant messages in this incisive book. To economists he says: 'look and see,' not 'see and look.' Had they looked at the numbers and not stuck to their theories, they would have seen that a big collapse was coming in 2007. His message to policymakers is 'look at underemployment,' not the headline unemployment figures, to see the slack in the economy. Underemployment—people working less than they want to—explains why, contrary to all past experience, wage inflation has not taken off with the recovery of full employment. A wake-up call to both economists and policymakers."—Robert Skidelsky, University of Warwick, author of John Maynard Keynes and Money and Government
