APRIL 13, 2026
In these interviews, political economist Nicholas Eberstadt discusses the growing crisis of prime-age American men who have completely exited the labor force, a group he calls a "ghost army."This demographic of over seven million men is distinct from the unemployed because they are neither working nor seeking employment, often spending their time on screen-based leisure while relying on government disability benefits. The sources explore competing theories for this decline, ranging from structural economic shifts like deindustrialization to supply-side issues such as low educational attainment and the prevalence of felony convictions. Eberstadt highlights a troubling generational trendwhere each successive group of men participates less in the economy than the one before it. Furthermore, the discussion examines how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these patterns by increasing personal savings and creating new disincentives to return to work. To address this social collapse, the author advocates for work-first policy reforms and better data collection on marginalized populations, particularly former convicts.

1. Nicholas Eberstadt introduces the "ghost army," comprising over 7 million prime-age American men who have completely exited the labor force. This generational decline began after 1965, with participation rates dropping from 96.6% to 88.2%. The trend is notably more severe in the U.S. than in Canada. (1)

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