In the book The Coming Jobs War, Jim Clifton describes the global pursuit of good jobs and how such a shift in focus will affect leadership decisions as countries wage war to produce the best jobs. Clifton believes that leaders of countries and companies should focus on creating good jobs as jobs bring prosperity, peace and human development while long-term unemployment ruins lives, cities and countries. However, despite understanding Clifton’s stand and the fundamental importance of good jobs in a society, I personally feel that Clifton made a slippery slope argument and has undermined the complexity of global issues. I believe that centering all public policies around the creation of good jobs, as implied by Clifton in his argument, will not solve all global problems. Moreover, the measures suggested by Clifton stems from the Business Perspective which I believe, neglects the social aspect of a society and is not applicable to all societies. Different societies have different social fabric and it is important to cater to their individual needs. Making such a generalized claim and introducing a “one size fits all” strategy will only create issues of social exclusion, where vulnerable and marginalized groups in a society have restricted access to opportunities and resources. ( )

The book, The Coming Jobs War, by Jim Clifton states that everyone in the world wants a job and describes how that it inevitable that future leadership decisions will be affected by the above fact. The book also goes on to state that leaders must recognize the importance of mentors and educational institutions to create jobs.
He believes America can win but it seems very difficult at this point, given its current circumstance. With the new POTUS we can only wait and see what can happen to the USA.

Overall, a very nice read and very interesting! Recommend this book to anyone wanting to pass some time. ( )

This was an easy read; full of lots of stats.
I think alot of this has already happened and we have already lost to China; I don't see a way back.
Clifton states that he believes America can win but I didn't get that impression reading this book.
It's a little depressing. I went away very thankful for my job and motivated to see what (little) things I can do in my circle of influence to promote true entrepreneurship and thus job creation.

Perhaps my favorite quote: "When you are in a meeting with nine other people, odds are that two of them are taking notes to make damn sure whatever your'e planning doesn't see the light of day." Page 102 in the chapter on "high energy workplaces. ( )

Yes, yes, yes, I get it. We're in trouble. Clifton needs to get over his ideas about American exceptionalism before I can take him seriously. On the other side of the same coin, though, he also needs to realize that any large economy, China's included, is going to screw up from time to time - in other words, China is very likely in trouble too, with all their newly-built empty cities and empty apartment buildings and failed building projects. In fact, it's Germany that's looking the best this month.

Capitalism as we know it is changing just as it did during the industrial revolution, and the truth is that nobody knows what's coming next and all we can do is surf the waves until things settle down, which might be 100 years or more. Our political system is intricately interrelated to our economic system, and this change is probably one we will feel with varying degrees of distress for a very long time to come.

Clifton might ultimately be telling a truth we all need to hear, but he's largely preaching to the choir and his conclusions feel off-base to me. ( )