Mulligan examines the multitude of government programs that create incentives for workers to leave the work force and for employers to not hire. His conclusion is the aggregation of these programs have resulted in lower employment and longer periods of unemployment.

It is a difficult book for non-economists, which is unfortunate since that makes it less likely it will be read by policy makers, who seem more wiling to engage in policies based on what they want to happen rather than policies based on the evidence of what is likely to happen.

Mulligan could be this generation's Milton Friedman if he had that ambition. ( )