Unintended Consequences of Well-Meaning Public Policy

Why has the labor market contracted so much and why does it remain depressed? Major subsidies and regulations intended to help the poor and unemployed were changed in more than a dozen ways—and although these policies were advertised as employment-expanding, the fact is that they reduced incentives for people to work and for businesses to hire.

-from "A Recovery Stymied by Redistribution" by Casey B. Mulligan, of the University of Chicago, in the WSJ.

To the right is the cover of  his latest book on the topic.

On June 25, Casey Mulligan gave the 2014 Hayek Lecture at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research from which the WSJ article is adapted.  That lecture is available for viewing.