Must-Read: Nick Bunker: How Much Bigger Can the U.S. Labor Force Get?

Must-Read: Nick Bunker: How Much Bigger Can the U.S. Labor Force Get?: “The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers puts about half of the decline in [labor force] participation from 2007 to 2014 into the “aging” category…

…But several structural factors can be addressed through policy actions…. Alan Krueger… tries to understand what is depressing participation for men and women who are in prime working ages of 25 to 54…. [For] prime-age men, health problems seem to be a huge barrier…. For prime-age women… the importance of family-friendly policies, or rather the lack thereof…. There is still the possibility that cyclical forces are pushing down the labor force participation rate…. Wage growth hasn’t been particularly strong during this recovery, which points to continued weaknesses in the demand…