Cafe Hayek - Latest Comments in What's the Difference?

Re: What's the Difference?

Henri Hein — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:23:56 -0000

Seriously, my dad was a clock-and-watch maker who was all but obsoleted by $5 digital watches. He barely survived his last years before retirement by specializing in door-to-door repairs of antique clocks. Although he occasionally sounds the "they don't make 'em like they used to" tune, I don' think you could get him to lament that everyone has access to super-accurate watches.

Martin, copiers certainly reduced the need for manual labor by office clerks. That these clerks then went on to other tasks is the point Prof. Boudreaux is making.

Re: What's the Difference?

The Dirty Mac — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:11:21 -0000

My uncle worked on a horse drawn ice wagon. Lots of jobs destroyed there.

Re: What's the Difference?

Practitioner — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:04:44 -0000

I don't know how accurate Don's comments may or may not be with respect to the office typing pool, but personal computers certainly had that effect on typesetters. Desktop publishing has very nearly made that entire field obsolete.

Re: What's the Difference?

Brad Warbiany — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:59:51 -0000

triticale,

That gives me an idea. If I just claim that my great-grandfather was a pony express rider, perhaps I can demand reparations?

Re: What's the Difference?

triticale — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:12:21 -0000

My favorite example of displaced workers is the Pony Express Riders robbed of their employment by the telegraph. What protection and recompense did they ever recieve. Sadly, it is far too late to do anything about this.

Re: What's the Difference?

Mike — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:23:13 -0000

Martin makes a nice point. It is quite possible that the office equipment technological revolution was complementary to office workers - even if the inputs are directly substitutable, scale effects are quite plausibly large enough to offset the direct substitution effect.

Re: What's the Difference?

Martin — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:36:27 -0000

Don.

Where's your actual evidence that office IT 'destroyed countless jobs for office-pool typists'?

Because a lifetime of working in office environments tells me a different story.

Re: What's the Difference?

David White — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:33:29 -0000

"The excess liquidity that was then injected into the system after the bursting of the equity bubble set the markets up for a series of other bubbles – especially residential property, emerging markets, high-yield corporate credit, and mortgages. Meanwhile, the yen carry trade added high-octane fuel to the levered play in risky assets, and the income-based saving shortfall of America’s asset-dependent economy resulted in the mother of all current account deficits. No one in their right mind ever though this mess was sustainable..."

True, though almost no one, including Don Boudreaux, is in his right mind and completely misunderstand the trade issue accordingly:

http://www.morganstanley.co...