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Economists know a lot about how to create wealth. They know very little about creating jobs. Jobs are temporary inefficiencies and a lot of economic growth co
by danielweber 15y ago
Economists know a lot about how to create wealth. They know very little about creating jobs.
Jobs are temporary inefficiencies and a lot of economic growth comes when you get rid of them. We've automated most of our farming, but we don't have 90% unemployment because all the farm jobs went away.
One thing is how fast technology grows related to how fast workers can adapt. 'Race Against The Machine' is a thesis that technology is now growing so fast workers can't keep up. I don't know if I buy it, but it's something to keep in mind.
- andrewla 15y agoI don't know if your statement about economists is intending to be a factual statement of economists' view of the state of economic science, or your opinion on what modern economic theories are good at. It's not clear to me personally, to be frank, that economics know a lot about how to create wealth either. That said, this is not an acknowledged weakness -- Keynes' magnum opus was The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, which spells out in great detail how these things are related. The core of this theory is still widely held in economic circles, which is why the mandate of the Federal Reserve keeps shifting from "controlling inflation" to "maximizing employment" -- because this is thought to be something that is controllable through manipulation of interest and money.