There is a growing number of economists who believe today’s brutally tough labor market is not a temporaryAmerican oddity. Falling wages, reduced benefits and rising job insecurity seem to be increasingly entrenched features of the job scene across most of WesternEurope, the United States and other parts of the developed worlD、The number of insecure freelance positions is rising (as are working hours) while stable jobs with good benefits are being cut. Laid-off workers are much less likely to be rehired by their old companies and have to find new jobs or turn to self-employment. Those who still have jobs are working longer hours with little prospect of meaningful raises. The new labor market is shaped by growing global competition, spurred by the rise of cheap manufacturers inChina, India andEasternEurope, and the price-chopping effect of both the Internet and giant retailers led by Wal-Mart. These forces compel Western companies to exercise a growing restraint on prices and labor cost. One thing globalization clearly does is to exert a leveling effect on wages.