The Economics Of Unemployment

First published in 1987. Unemployment is currently the major economic concern in developed economies. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the economics of unemployment. It concentrates on theories of the labour market and examines the critical inter-relationships with the rest of the economy. It provides a thorough evaluation of theory and extensive consideration of the relevant empirical evidence. It emphasises the multi-causal nature of unemployment and concludes that policy-makers should respond with a multi-faceted mix of policies.

First published in 1922, Hobson’s study of the depression and resulting unemployment in the aftermath of the First World War is a far-sighted analysis which looks beyond the consequences of the war itself, at the root economic causes of the crisis. Dealing with issues such as the failure of consumption, trade fluctuations, the balance of spending and saving, and spiralling credit as factors which lay at the root of the depression, Hobson’s study is a document of considerable economic, social and historical value, which still has much to teach the modern reader, whether interested layperson or student of economics.

The problems and issues of unemployment are given comprehensive coverage through discussions of measurement, theory and policy which are backed up with empirical evidence drawn from postwar experience in the United States and the United Kingdom.

First published in 'The Review of Economic Studies' and 'Oxford Economic Papers', these essays consider the natural rate of unemployment, and attempt to explain its determinants within different frameworks.

Textbook on the economic implications of unemployment in the UK - examines effects of labour market adjustments on unemployment, application of disequilibrium economic theory, measurement, the role of unemployment benefit in acting as an incentive for not working, phillips curve relations between wages, prices, inflation and employment, and considers unemployment data collecting. Bibliography after each chapter and graphs.

This book studies unemployment and inflation in economic crises, first considering the scenario of a demand shock in Europe. In that case, monetary and fiscal interaction would cause widespread oscillations in European unemployment and European inflation. And what is more, there would be equally far-reaching fluctuations in the European money supply and European government purchases. These monetary and fiscal interactions would have no effects on the American economy. Second, it examines the scenario of a supply shock in Europe, in which monetary and fiscal interactions would have no effects on European unemployment or European inflation; there would also be an explosion of European government purchases and an implosion of the European money supply. Monetary and fiscal interactions would produce uniform oscillations in American unemployment and American inflation. Lastly, we would also see an implosion of both the American money supply and American government purchases.