Not since Bush 41 discovered the bar code scanner has a President of the United States impressed the American public with his knowledge of everyday life in the business world as did Barack Obama with his comment that ATM machines were one of the reasons his economy would not produce jobs. That's why we have speech writers. A speech writer would cloak the President's mind with an aura of common sense but here, speaking without a speech writer, when Obama bares his mind it's like an act of indecent exposure. The public is embarrassed for him. It longs for the smooth verbiage and deep insights of a Joe Biden and it sees why the President seldom appears in public without benefit of teleprompter.
What the President seems to be saying is automation decreases overall employment which it does not. It may create dislocations in the labor market and these dislocations can be acute for those who are displaced. But the jobs that are lost are not long missed. Does any woman wish for the good old days before washing machines? Do women forever long for the days spent ironing. Do men, other the Michael Dukakis, miss their push mowers? Do terms such as "steno pool", "assembly line", and "switchboard operator" conjure up images of industrial bliss?
No wonder all this man's economy can produce is Mcjobs.
What the President seems to be saying is automation decreases overall employment which it does not. It may create dislocations in the labor market and these dislocations can be acute for those who are displaced. But the jobs that are lost are not long missed. Does any woman wish for the good old days before washing machines? Do women forever long for the days spent ironing. Do men, other the Michael Dukakis, miss their push mowers? Do terms such as "steno pool", "assembly line", and "switchboard operator" conjure up images of industrial bliss?
No wonder all this man's economy can produce is Mcjobs.
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