Undertrained workers, not dislocated workers, are the real problem in the American economy. The vast majority of the workers affected by structural change in the American economy appear to make employment transitions fairly swiftly and smoothly, with no need for public intervention. Undertrained workers, mostly employed and scattered in all…

This working paper, part of a project on the applicability of the French training system in the United States, argues that a systematic national commitment to midcareer worker retraining is necessary for American prosperity and international economic competitiveness. Although findings of the early human capital theorists demonstrated that an…