N.Y. Times Columnist's Fantasy: There Are Jobs For Those Who Want Them

By Dean Baker
July 21, 2011 - 10:52am ET

The New York Times on Wednesday featured another Casey Mulligan episode of "There Is No Unemployment." Mulligan's argument is that if we look at employment rates for the older population we see that they have actually risen in the downturn even as employment for people ages 25-55 plummeted. Mulligan interprets this as evidence that highly motivated older workers are able to find jobs, and if younger workers were equally motivated they would find jobs too.

This is an interesting story. The rise in employment rates of older workers is a striking story in this downturn and one that I and others have often noted. However, there are other possible interpretations.