by Gary Alexander
September 9, 2026
Labor Day marks a time for a clear-eyed view of the U.S. labor market as a competitive force in the world, but I sometimes wonder why we celebrate Labor Day when the value of work to many Americans seems to be rapidly diminishing. Before addressing that, let me celebrate (or note) two-historic events:
- Happy 250th Birthday to the USA! Even though the idea of an independent America was born on July 4th, 1776, our infant Republic was officially named 250-years ago today. On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia officially adopted our full national name as “The United States of America.” Previously, the term “United Colonies” was used to identify the union.
- In contrast, this Friday marks the sad 25th anniversary of the 9-11 (2001) Attack on America. Three-weeks ago, I wrote about five financial repercussions of that terrible tragedy, fueling 25-years of wars and huge budget deficits: 8-18-26: Five Big Financial Surprises in the Last 25-Years – Navellier.
Now, let’s celebrate Labor Day. I’m a big fan of working hard and smart for a variety of reasons, as a life of leisure is often over-rated. Even in semi-retirement, I want to keep working to keep my mind sharp.
President John Adams is the unsung hero of our nation’s founding, according to many authors, so let me quote the irascible Adams on the changing nature of work, especially since I played John Adams recently:
“I must study politics and war, that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.”
-–John Adams, in a letter to his wife Abigail on May 12, 1780
The Adams family fulfilled that prophecy, with some exceptions. John and Abigail’s oldest son, John Quincy, became a profoundly successful diplomat from age 14 on, then our 6th President, followed by his best work – as an aging abolitionist congressman. John and Abigail also spawned a wastrel alcoholic son, but that’s life’s cruel lottery. John Quincy Adams’ grandson, Henry Adams (1838-1918), was a notable author and historian who wrote The Education of Henry Adams and The Dynamic Theory of History.
This brief rundown of the Adams family tree reveals few grandkids dabbling in “tapestry and porcelain,” but perhaps a modern Adams would grumble over their Gen Z descendants playing video games at home or seeking careers as tattoo artists, internet influencers, baristas, or other dead-end low-paying side shows.
Part of the problem is how COVID introduced office workers to the option of working from home. That happened a century earlier, too, after World War I and a pandemic, as reflected in a #1 hit song: “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘em Down on the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree?).” I suppose a post-COVID equivalent rap riff would start: “Why should workers ever commute to their jobs, after they’ve worked from home?”
After America suffered the new Four Horsemen of the 21st Century – the Dot-com bubble, the 9-11 attack in 2001, the 2008 Great Recession and the 2020 COVID pandemic – the U.S. labor force went on strike. Since COVID, over 100 million adult Americans have chosen to remain outside the labor force. That figure rose 65% from 1990 to 2020 with over 100 million workers still on strike, ever since COVID.
Graphs are for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Please read important disclosures at the end of this commentary.
Worse yet, prime-age workers, age 25 to 54, the largest bloc of active workers, finds almost half of men outside the labor force citing illness or disability as their reason, even though jobs are safer than ever.
Graphs are for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Please read important disclosures at the end of this commentary.
In 1960, only about 1% of workers claimed disability. Now, with safer jobs, disability claims are over 10%. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total civilian non-institutionalized population with an officially reported disability reached an all-time high of 45.8 million (13.7% of the population) last year.
Many disability claims are marginal, not defined by physical limitations. Motivated Americans work around their limits. I worked for a paraplegic CEO in the 1980s, and quadriplegic Charles Krauthammer was on my New Orleans Investment Conference political panel from 2009 until his final illness in 2017.
Even before COVID, we witnessed a new relationship between work and life in America. More workers were “playing the system,” opting for early retirement at generous pension levels through government or union contracts, or gaming the disability system. With far safer workplaces than in the coal-mining era of 70-years (and 16-tons) ago, millions of workers discovered bad backs or designer diseases to retire early.
In the 1950s, most men felt they had to work, as sole breadwinners, so 87% of men of working age were at work or looking for work. Since 2013, that number has remained below 70% (see chart, below).
Graphs are for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Please read important disclosures at the end of this commentary.
About one of every three working-age men today are not in the labor force – the lowest rate ever – but today’s disabled workers on relief are not generally in wheelchairs. They have sore backs or mental issues or drug addiction. Before the pandemic, the major reasons for avoiding work were: (1) disability claims or drug addiction; (2) lower incentives for work and higher rewards for not working; or (3) better off-the-grid options. Alan Krueger, a Princeton University economist, cited findings showing nearly half of all prime working age males not in the labor force were taking (mostly prescribed) pain drugs each day.
This is not the America of my youth, when thousands of workers died in coal mines or in construction or in road work, or war, but the number of such ultra-dangerous jobs has fallen sharply since the 1950s:
According to the CDC, in a little over a century (1900 to 2006), 513-underground mine disasters (mostly explosions and fires) killed 11,606 coal miners, an average of 110-deaths per year, mostly pre-1970, not counting premature deaths from “black lung” diseases. Thankfully, those jobs are now rare, and much safer, as America has 88% fewer coal miners, even though our total work force has tripled since 1950.
Graphs are for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Please read important disclosures at the end of this commentary.
The Great American Dream Still Lives – But It Involves…(wait for it) Hard Work
Let me close on a positive note. While work (“labor,” in the standard definition of a 9-5 job) is falling out of favor, entrepreneurial Americans are flourishing. The Great American Dream isn’t owning a home – as politicians and real estate agents assure us: The Dream is founding, owning and growing your business.
In a fine Labor Day weekend “Review” section of The Wall Street Journal (September 5-6, 2026), the front-page feature was titled, “The American Dream is Alive, and it’s Minting Millionaires: Meet the ‘Everywhere Millionaires’ who prove that elite degrees aren’t a prerequisite for building massive wealth.”
The article covers several examples, starting with Dick Portillo, who opened a hot dog stand in 1963 without knowing how to cook a hot dog but he learned fast. Now he’s living a plush retirement in Florida.
There are three-million of these “everywhere millionaires” who are “collectively worth more than $65 trillion,” according to the Survey of Consumer Finances. The number of $100+ million business owners has quadrupled since 2001, adjusted for inflation. The typical case is not a rich kid. “Most come from poor or middle-class families,” the Journal says, and most are invisible: They don’t flaunt their wealth.
Three-books I’m currently reading put this Labor Day dichotomy (a career vs. a job) in stark contrast:
As for the mundane world of jobs, we need more people thinking in terms of careers and businesses than jobs. We’ve come a long way from days of hauling 16-tons of coal and getting deeper in debt. There’s no need to enter a coal mine today, but American men need to put their big-boy pants on and create a career.
All content above represents the opinion of Gary Alexander of Navellier & Associates, Inc.
Also In This Issue
A Look Ahead by Louis Navellier
Friday’s Jobs Report and Other Indicators Look Strong
Income Mail by Bryan Perry
The Opponents of Data Centers Just Don’t Get It
Growth Mail by Gary Alexander
What Happened to America’s Work Ethic?
Global Mail by Ivan Martchev
The President is on a Collision Course with the Fed
Sector Spotlight by Jason Bodner
Applying Leverage to the Upcoming Elections
View Full Archive
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About The Author
Gary Alexander
SENIOR EDITOR
Gary Alexander has been Senior Writer at Navellier since 2009. He edits Navellier’s weekly Marketmail and writes a weekly Growth Mail column, in which he uses market history to support the case for growth stocks. For the previous 20-years before joining Navellier, he was Senior Executive Editor at InvestorPlace Media (formerly Phillips Publishing), where he worked with several leading investment analysts, including Louis Navellier (since 1997), helping launch Louis Navellier’s Blue Chip Growth and Global Growth newsletters.
Prior to that, Gary edited Wealth Magazine and Gold Newsletter and wrote various investment research reports for Jefferson Financial in New Orleans in the 1980s. He began his financial newsletter career with KCI Communications in 1980, where he served as consulting editor for Personal Finance newsletter while serving as general manager of KCI’s Alexandria House book division. Before that, he covered the economics beat for news magazines. All content of “Growth Mail” represents the opinion of Gary Alexander
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