This volume explores nine major questions regarding the labor market on which respected economists disagree. The purpose of the volume is to elevate the public debate about labor-market policy questions by exposing the public to this range of reasonable viewpoints.

Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface ix
Michael R. Strain
I. Should We Be Concerned About the State of
Economic Mobility in the US? 1
How Much Social Mobility? More, but Not
Without Other Things 2
Miles Corak
What Should Be Done to Increase
Intergenerational Mobility in the US? 14
Bhash Mazumder
II. Is Productivity the Most Important Determinant
of Compensation? 29
Marginally True: The Connection of Pay to
Productivity 30
Dean Baker
Does Productivity Still Determine Worker
Compensation? Domestic and International
Evidence 42
Robert Z. Lawrence
III. How Can We Build Workers¿ Skills? 63
Is ¿Skill¿ a Topic for Policy? 64
Peter Cappelli
Worker Skills and the US Labor Market:
What Role Should Policy Play? 77
Harry J. Holzer
IV. How Can We Make Work Pay? 95
Supporting Work, Inclusion, and Mass
Prosperity 96
Glenn Hubbard
What Do We Really Know About the
Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage? 106
Justin Wolfers
V. Do Public Policies That Reduce the Reward to
Work Significantly Diminish Labor Supply? 121
The US Safety Net and Work Incentives:
Is There a Problem? What Should Be Done? 122
Robert A. Moffitt
The Rise of Employment Taxation 138
Casey B. Mulligan
VI. What Are the Economic Effects of Lesser-Skilled
Immigration on Lesser-Skilled Native Workers? 151
Low-Skill Immigration 152
George J. Borjas
Less-Skilled Immigration: Economic Effects
and Policy Responses 166
Pia M. Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny
VII. Would Cutting the Corporate Tax Rate
Significantly Increase Jobs in the US? 179
Would Reducing the US Corporate Tax Rate
Increase Employment in the United States? 180
Martin Feldstein
Business Tax Reform and the Labor Market 187
Jason Furman and Betsey Stevenson
VIII. What Should We Do About Those Americans
Who Are Especially Difficult to Employ? 203
Making Work a Priority for Working-Age
People with Disabilities 204
Richard V. Burkhauser and Mary C. Daly
How to Help the Hard-to-Employ: A Focus on
Young Men, Especially the Ex-Incarcerated 221
Timothy M. Smeeding
IX. Should We Be Concerned About Income
Inequality? 247
Is the Concept of Inequality the Best Way of
Thinking About Our Economic Problems? 248
Tyler Cowen
Should We Be Concerned About Income
Inequality in the United States? 264
Melissa S. Kearney
About the Authors 281

Edited by Michael R. Strain