Only half true. You can, actually, decide to channel increased productivity into involuntary unemployment and it seems that to some extent we do just that. Pro

Only half true. You can, actually, decide to channel increased productivity into involuntary unemployment and it seems that to some extent we do just that. Productivity and growth aren't zero-sum, but money definitely is. All the assets and liabilities in the economy sum to zero, so if you want to add new jobs you need to either deflate the economy or increase someone's debt level.