On a recent cross-country trip—I (Paul) drove from California to Illinois and back again. On the drive, I saw a sign I had never seen before: In a McDonald’s window it said $1,000 SIGNING BONUS. That was not a thing when I was a teenager doing minimum-wage jobs. No one paid you $1,000 signing bonuse...
• While driving cross-country, the author noticed a $1,000 sign-up bonus sign at McDonald's.
• The US workforce remains structurally imbalanced and resists downsizing.
• U.S. worker participation has plummeted during Covid and remains below pre-Covid levels.
• The participation rate is a full percentage point below pre-Covid levels, which is amazing.
• In retail, restaurants, manufacturing, trade, and so on, companies are having difficulty hiring staff.
• Automation always reduces the share of labor in value added and can reduce the demand for labor.
• Automation of contract law, software, and call centers is displacing vast numbers of people.
• We need the best tools and technologies to achieve explosive growth in productivity.