Robert Reich, neo-Luddite

**JonnyMR** · 10-16-2012, 11:59 PM

I caught this piece by Robert Reich on Marketplace last week, entitled "Is technology to blame for chronic unemployment?"...

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/ec...c-unemployment

This appears to be a commonly held economic fallacy. Reich is only looking at one part of the story. Technology might displace jobs in a particular field, but it will lower costs or increase profits which can be used for further consumption or invested in other industries, so it will increase employment in that way. This is how we expand opportunities and know which new industries are needed and wanted.

Technology serves to maximize production, which is what we should really care about, as that is what increases our standard of living. If it does reduce employment, it is largely voluntary. This is a good thing, why would we want to work more than we have to?

I can't understand how Reich is a professor of "public policy". What sort of policy is he advocating for? Not allowing industries to innovate? Or perhaps we should prohibit efficient, labor-saving technologies so more people can have jobs. Eliminate computers and have rooms full of math majors do all the calculations. Hell, there'd be a lot of jobs to fill!

If you're interested, check out my full critique below:

http://betterlivingthroughliberty.co...ted-and-wrong/

**angelatc** · 10-17-2012, 06:17 AM

Thanks for posting this.

Instead of the math majors, maybe we could have cheap labor in the form of Chinese people with abacuses?

**jkr** · 10-17-2012, 07:17 AM

"Is technology to blame for chronic unemployment?"...

YES

**Seraphim** · 10-17-2012, 07:31 AM

**Facepalm**

Technology RADICALLY lowers the cost of living (efficient production) , thereby RADICALLY lowering the amount of work required to sustain "the good life".

Wanna know why there is chronic unemployement? Centralized money printing (counterfitting), State regulations and taxes. That's it. End of story.