Heard on the Street: The Economics of Jobless Recoveries - WSJ.com

BASIC JOB ECONOMICS: Heard on the Street: The Economics of Jobless Recoveries - WSJ.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Other questions, which would seem to also apply to the US, relate to the skills needed and the capital required to provide a new job?

The University of Chicago economist Rajan makes a big point of the overall increase in the level of education required by information based economies (which after all is where good standards of living can be earned). With respect to education, this becomes an investment that both the society and the individual makes - as well as companies when they provide ongoing training courses.

If the less-skilled jobs (and many of the skilled) are taken by individuals in countries with a lower 'total labor cost' (see Art Laffers good article on the subject in this week's Wall Street Journal), then developed economies may have to rethink all the social benefits that are tacked onto the actual pay labor receives (e.g. workmens comp., early retirement, healthcare, etc.).

There is also of course the cost of the actual plant and equipment (a recent Malaysian clean energy plant cost roughly $1 billion for 1,000 jobs).

In light of the above, one wonders about how much thinking is going into understanding these critical factors? It would seem as though the UK is coming up with policies to drive bankers out of the UK (which would seem to be exactly the wrong move!