The Accidental Experiment That Changed Men’s Lives

I beat it - I enlisted.

Great article!

Most people my age are aware of the draft and the possible impact it might have on a person physically, socially and mentally. In 1990, the MIT economist Joshua Angrist became the first to use the draft lottery as an experiment for studying social and economic experiences. In a now-classic study, Angrist found that white men suffered a 15 percent earnings penalty in the 1980s for being drafted. I was not aware of this study until today. I often wondered what happened as result of my delayed entry into the labor market with my peers. It is impossible for me to know the actual effect on me personally in terms of my career and finances but I did find it interesting in the aggregate.