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On the subject of Friedman, what was his take on how to address the deep personal losses suffered by tens of thousands of US based steel industry workers who lo
by HillaryBriss 8y ago
On the subject of Friedman, what was his take on how to address the deep personal losses suffered by tens of thousands of US based steel industry workers who lose their jobs? Many of these people become unemployed or underemployed for years.
They seem to be taking a pretty big loss. Surely Friedman didn't expect them to just "take one for the team." I don't know. Maybe he did? Not sure.
- Barrin92 8y agoFriedman's response to this was that there is always cost to some policy. The cost of protectionism just happens to fall on the majority of people which have no particular voice. Protecting the local steel industry might be good for the steel workers, but it raises prices for everyone else in the economy who consumes steel. Now certainly every time someone's job is disrupted by competition it is personally tragic, but why do the interests of one particular interest group weigh in larger than the well-being of everyone else?
- HillaryBriss 8y ago> why do the interests of one particular interest group weigh in larger than the well-being of everyone else? then, if I interpret this correctly, Friedman's idea truly was that laid-off steelworkers "take one for the team"
- zeroname 8y agoWhat about the "deep personal losses" suffered in the garment industry, in electronics, in agriculture? What about all the people that lost their jobs as a result of technological progress? What of those poor ice pickers, who lost their livelihood to the invention of the refrigerator?
- HillaryBriss 8y agoright. more examples of the same. economic gains are unevenly distributed and some workers experience a deep net loss. so, what regulatory or governmental policies and programs did Friedman think could actually help people once they arrive in that state? what can an economist say about policy for workers whose livelihood disappeared?
- ric2b 8y agoSupposedly you can offer adult re-training, free if your industry is in a decline.