Where Did the Jobs Go--and How Do We Get Them Back?

There's nothing more fundamental to having a decent life in America than having a job. Unemployment is the public's top concern in polls, and potentially the most damaging part of the Great Recession. Yet the political discussion about jobs it is a morass of posturing, blame and ideology. "Where Did the Jobs Go-and How Can We Get Them Back?" is a basic guide to the jobs issue written specifically for readers who aren't economists, financiers, business school professors, or policy wonks working for think tanks. It's designed to help readers sift through the political rhetoric for context and clarification - and shares some ideas that aren't being raised by politicians, but which could be crucial to turning the U.S. jobs picture around. But while the topic is serious, solving it doesn't have to be. Featuring chapters entitled Has America Lost Its Mojo? and Just the Facts, Ma'am, this book will be anything but dry. By applying the same winning approach they used to irreverently explain the federal budget crisis in Where Does the Money Go?, Bittle and Johnson will use pop culture to help define the fundamental concepts that shape the varying economic and jobs proposals. They cover proposals from the political left, right, and center-balancing the budget, cutting taxes, cutting bureaucracy, reviving manufacturing, improving education, starting a major national infrastructure project, closing the gap between rich and poor - and try to help readers understand risks, costs, and trade-offs associated with each of them as ways to create jobs. They also offer an in-depth look at the truths and lies frequently thrown around about jobs and technology, globalization, immigration, Baby Boomers, and more.