The contrast between revived profits and stunted job growth is stunning. From late 2007 to late 2009, payroll employment dropped nearly 8.4 million. Since then, the economy has recovered a scant 11 percent of those lost jobs. Companies are doing much better than workers; that defines today’s economy…

Aside from executives’ stock options, Gordon cites weaker unions and more competition from both imports and immigrants as subverting workers’ bargaining power. History also mattered. The harsh 1981-82 recession threatened the survival of many firms. The near-death experience made managers more open to bigger layoffs. What started as last-resorts slowly became routine. There was a generational change, too. Depression-era CEOs, highly sensitive to job insecurity, retired. Younger executives worried more about competitive challenges and corporate takeovers…

But it’s unclear whether corporate elites were so traumatized by the crisis that they’ve adopted a bunker mentality. That, as much as uncertainty over Obama Administration policies, could be fearsome. What might appeal to individual firms — paring expenses to maximize profits, hoarding cash to protect against a future financial crisis, waiting to hire until sales improve — could, if adopted by most companies, sabotage a stronger recovery. If labor is cowed and capital is overcautious, the economy must suffer.