Concepts: Opportunity cost of time, labor participation
Background: Journalist Dapo Banjo decides not to investigate a time-sensitive matter, to take care of his son instead. Conciliating career and childcare is a dilemma most families must navigate.
Question: Using course concepts, discuss how having to provide childcare impacts labor market decisions.
Background: While a fight breaks out between players, Gi-hun ties this violence to his past as an autoworker. The flashback scene depicts the injustice faced by labor workers in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. This scene was inspired by a real-life event when SsangYong Motors filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and laid off hundreds of autoworkers.
Question: How did the global financial crisis affect the automotive industry? Research the automotive industry crisis of 2008-2010. Find South Korea’s GDP growth rate in 2009 (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MKTGDPKRA646NWDB#0). Compare its unemployment rate in 2009 to the United States (https://data.oecd.org/unemp/unemployment-rate.htm). Did South Korea experience a recession in 2009? Define the concept.
Background: Emily gets fired by Sylvie. Disconcerted, she shares the news with her coworkers.
Question: Luc and Julien explain to Emily that it is not easy to fire an employee in France. Research employment protection laws in the United States and in France. Explain the impact of greater job security on unemployment rate.
Concepts: labor-market discrimination, gender pay gap
Background: Jenny finds out that female workers at her company earn less than their male counterparts. She decides to confront the executive and asks for a change.
Question: Jenny demands equal pay for her female coworkers. Can Jenny’s boss explain the gender pay gap in his company using economic theory?
