(STREAM) – It’s no secret that U.S. businesses are struggling to find workers. Recent surveys have shown that small businesses are reporting record job openings.
Many have described the phenomenon as a labor shortage. “Walk outside: labor shortage is the pervasive phenomenon,” economist Lawrence Summers recently observed at a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
At first glance, calling what the U.S. is experiencing a labor shortage — as I recently did — makes perfect sense. After all, there are millions of job openings, which means there are not enough qualified job candidates to fill the market’s employment demands. That’s pretty close to a textbook definition of a labor shortage.
It’s wrong, however. And John Stossel recently pointed out why.
