The percentage of Americans who are working or who are looking for work has declined sharply since the 2007-2009 recession. The labor force participation rate is now at 62.8 percent, equal to 1978 levels before the movement of women into the labor force during the 1980s.

Productive talent is sitting on the sidelines. Potential workers, discouraged by fruitless job searches, have left the labor force. Nevertheless, the exodus of workers from the labor force has spawned a number of myths from apologists who say that matters are not as dire as they seem.