What became known as “essential work” during the pandemic was really just forced labor, according to labor market economist Suresh Naidu. He shares employers’ secret tricks for manipulating the labor market and explains how powerless most workers have become as a result.
What would you do if you were benevolent dictator?
We’re continuing to celebrate our 100th episode this week with another compilation — the best of the benevolent dictator question. What would you do to fix the world’s most intractable problems if you had no restraints? Our guests from over the last two years weigh in.
The powerlessness of forced labor (with Suresh Naidu)
This week, labor market economist Suresh Naidu explains how his field attempts to account for the influence of power while studying employee/employer relationships, and unveils the hidden tricks of the coercive labor market.
Suresh Naidu is a professor of economics and international and public affairs at Columbia University as well as a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute, and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.