Since the beginning of the economic crisis of the 1980s considerable research has been dedicated to the study of the unemployment problem. Nevertheless, the phenomenon has not become fully understood, nor are its consequences adequately prevented. In this important new volume, On the Mysteries of Unemployment, economists and social scientists come together to offer the reader the latest insights on unemployment and policies regarding unemployment from the perspectives of both disciplines. On the Mysteries of Unemployment contains four main sections. Part One provides an introductory chapter and general overview. Part Two contains rich contributions that provide new insights from an economic science perspective, while Part Three offers a balanced view from social scientists. The final section is devoted to the examination of policy issues concerning unemployment. This volume, unique in its field, will be of interest to researchers, students, politicians and policy-makers.

Students use a comparative approach to explore concepts and materials that are frequently neglected in other economics courses. An introductory essay provides background information to the 12 classroomready lessons.

Persistent high employment and growing labour market inequality have become entrenched features of many European countries. This edited collection of papers focuses on the regional and local dimensions of these problems across the European union as a whole and, more particularly, in the UK. In the addressing the contemporary landscape of unemployment, social exclusion and public policy the contributors highlight several key themes, including: How the process of unemployment and social exclusion have an important local level operation. The increasing gender dimension and counts of unemployment to provide effective guides to the true scale of joblessness The need for more local-focused policy interventions to help reduce the problems of unemployment, employment insecurity and low incomes that now characterise many of the advanced countries.

"This important book by a major historian is the first to study how the problem of people out of work has been understood and dealt with in the Western world. Garraty discusses the ambivalent attitudes that people have always had toward work and how attitudes and perceptions have changed from ancient times to the present. He deals with what economists and philosophers have written about the problem over the centuries, with what public officials, heads of state, and politicians have said and done about it, with how effective the various "cures" have been, and with the situation today"--Book jacket.

Coordination and Growth: Essays in Honour of Simon K. Kuipers, addresses a rich variety of coordination issues in macroeconomics. It contains detailed studies in economic policy, monetary economics, and growth theory and uses various methodologies to address the coordination issue: from a pure theoretical to an empirical econometric approach. It is stressed that modern macroeconomics should focus on coordination issues. Imperfections of various kinds are likely to lead to coordination failures, which can lead to large welfare losses. Macroeconomists should address the causes and implications of imperfections and failures. In this book attempts are made to increase our knowledge in this field. The book is a tribute to one of the leading Dutch macroeconomists, Simon K. Kuipers. Simon Kuipers shows a major interest in the theory of capital (following e.g. Harrod), growth theory (following Solow), monetary theory (following Tobin), and disequilibrium theory (following Malinvaud and Benassy). The lines of thought have in common that they use frictions to explain the functioning of a market economy. The nature of the frictions varies from pure quantity rationing, like in the Malinvaud analysis, to imperfect substitution of various capital goods (like in the vintage models or assets (in the general monetary equilibrium models proposed by Tobin). Kuipers is not only interested in pure theoretical contributions, he also stimulates econometric work in line with the Dutch tradition initiated by Tinbergen. His applied work relates to policy analysis and policy prescriptions in many fields, ranging from monetary economics to distortions in the labour market. Kuipers can be classified as a true Keynesian, although he admires neoclassical theory for its rigour and compactness. Better still, he is an eclectic economist with an open eye for the different schools of thought in macroeconomics.

In recent years, the local dimensions of the labour market have attracted increasing attention from academic analysts and public policy-makers alike. There is growing realization that there is no such thing as the national labour market, instead a mosaic of local and regional markets that differ in nature, performance and regulation. Geographies of Labour Market Inequality is concerned with these multiple geographies of employment, unemployment, work and incomes, and their implications for public policy.

The global crisis has led to dramatic increases in unemployment rates over most of the countries of the OECD. This book provides alternative explanations of this phenomenon. Junankar begins with surveys of the labour market: labour demand, labour supply, and labour force participation. He argues that the growth of unemployment and long-term unemployment is mainly due to a lack of aggregated demand and not due to high unemployment benefits. Economics of the Labour Market shows that unemployment and long-term unemployment impose serious and significant costs on individuals, families, and society in general. Raja Junankar focuses on vital social issues arising from the malfunctioning of economies and this collection of essays tackles the real cost of unemployment.