We’re entering the final stages of the 2012 presidential election, and the discourse about the economy and the job market will only be heating up and getting more muddled. To stimulate and inform the discussion on the stagnant jobs market, Wharton Digital Press (WDP) and author Peter Cappelli are offering digital copies of his latest book for free.

As the George W. Taylor Professor of Management and director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources, Cappelli is already a well-known and highly respected expert on talent management and labor relations.

His latest publication through WDP—Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It—has garnered intense attention even for Cappelli. The book has been featured in top-tier media outlets like The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Marketplace Money, Fox News After the Bell and others.

Prof. Peter Cappelli

Cappelli’s main points in the book are provocative: In essence, he blames employers for their failure to fill vacant positions in an economic climate where one would assume it is easy to identify and hire top talent.

“[Employers] have to rethink the way they go about hiring. At the moment, especially in larger employers, the hiring process has become very mechanical, without a lot of space for judgment,” Cappelli told Wharton Magazine during an interview for our Summer 2012 issue. (See “Cappelli: Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs.”)

“If employers thought about their supply of talent as carefully as they thought about their office supplies, they could solve these problems easily,” he said.

To read more of Cappelli’s arguments for yourself, download your free copy of Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Sony.

The offer is valid through Sept. 17, 2012. The book is also available in paperback at the suggested retail price of $14.99.