The global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 has led to severe issues in the labor market. To be more particular, the number of unemployed individuals is considerably higher than prior to the global lockdown (The Economist, para. 2). Naturally, such a situation happened due to businesses going bankrupt or reducing the number of employees to survive the economic crisis. The Economist elaborates on the statistics of the unemployment rate and shares the amount of time it can take for the labor market to recover to its prior-pandemic state (para. 1-3). This issue is complex, so McConnell et al. cover the primary aspects that contribute to it in chapters 12, 15, and 18. The 12th chapter reveals the governmental response to the labor market and how it is regulated during a crisis or similar circumstances (McConnell et al.).
The 15th part indicates the detail of job hunting, which is relevant to the topic, considering that people failed to land a job because of the severe economic situation (McConnell et al.). Finally, the last chapter includes the analysis of employment and unemployment and how they affect the labor market on the whole.
The economist, Gary Becker, earned the Nobel Prize for outstanding contributions to the field of economy, applying the theories for human behavior to connect the notion to sociology, criminology, and even demography. He researched the incentives for actors’ behavior, aiming at grander wealth, recognition, and fame, to analyze how this psychological phenomenon pertains to investments and crime (The Nobel Prize, para. 2). The most significant part of Becker’s contribution is his investigation of the relation of the aforementioned concept to discrimination in the labor market in relation to people of other professions.