{"id":263667,"date":"2014-11-02T13:00:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-02T18:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/andreessen\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T20:55:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T00:55:38","slug":"andreessen","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Luddites are wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><\/h4>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7029 \" src=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png\" alt=\"NB-Andreesen-avatar\" width=\"49\" height=\"49\" \/><\/td>\n<td>\n<h4>@pmarca<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>1\/One of the most interesting topics in modern times is the \u201crobots eat all the jobs\u201d thesis; best book on topic: [<em>The Second Machine Age<\/em> by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.]<\/p>\n<p>2\/The thesis is that computers can more and more substitute for human labor, thus displacing jobs and creating unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>3\/At core, this is Luddism\u2014\u201d\u0160 \u201clump of labor\u201d fallacy, that there is a fixed amount of work to be done.<\/p>\n<p>4\/The counterargument is Milton Friedman: Human wants and needs are infinite; there is always more to do. 200 years of history confirms.<\/p>\n<p>5\/To avoid the Luddite mistake, must believe \u201cthis time is different,\u201d that either (a) there won&#8217;t be new wants and needs (vs human nature),<\/p>\n<p>6\/Or (b) It won&#8217;t matter that there are new wants and needs, most people won&#8217;t be able to adapt to contribute &amp; have jobs in new fields.<\/p>\n<p>7\/While it is certainly true that technological change displaces current work &amp; jobs, and that is a serious issue that must be addressed&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>8\/It is equally true, and important, that the other result of each such change is a step function increase in consumer standards of living.<\/p>\n<p>9\/As consumers, we virtually never resist technology change that provides us with better products\/services even when it costs jobs&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>10\/Nor should we. This is how we build a better world, improve quality of life, better provide for our kids, solve fundamental problems.<\/p>\n<p>11\/Make no mistake, advocating slowing tech change to preserve jobs = advocating punishing consumers, stalling quality of life improvements.<\/p>\n<p>12\/So how then to best help individuals who are buffeted by producer-side technology change and lose jobs they wish they could keep?<\/p>\n<p>13\/First, focus on increasing access to education and skill development\u201d\u0160\u2014\u201d\u0160 which itself will increasingly be delivered via technology.<\/p>\n<p>14\/Second, let markets work (voluntary contracts and trade) so that capital and labor can rapidly reallocate to create new fields and jobs.<\/p>\n<p>15\/Third, a vigorous social safety net so that people are not stranded and unable to provide for their families.<\/p>\n<p>16\/The loop closes as rapid technological productivity improvement and resulting economic growth make it easy to pay for safety net.<\/p>\n<p>Marc Andreessen @pmarca<br \/>\n1\/The flip side of \u201crobots eat all the jobs\u201d not being discussed: The current revolution in the \u201cmeans of production\u201d going to everyone.<\/p>\n<p>2\/In the form of the smartphone (and tablet and PC) + mobile broadband +\u201d\u02c6the Internet: Will be in almost everyone&#8217;s hands by 2020.<\/p>\n<p>3\/Then everyone gets access to unlimited information, communication, education, access to markets, participate in global market economy.<\/p>\n<p>4\/This is not a world we have ever lived in: Historically most people in most places cut off from these things, usually to a high degree.<\/p>\n<p>5\/It is hard to believe that the result will not be a widespread global unleashing of creativity, productivity, and human potential.<\/p>\n<p>6\/It is hard to believe that people will get these capabilities and then come up with&#8230;absolutely nothing useful to do with them.<\/p>\n<p>7\/And yet that is the subtext to the \u201cthis time is different\u201d argument that there won&#8217;t be new ideas, fields, industries, businesses, jobs.<\/p>\n<p>8\/In arguing this with an economist friend, response was \u201cBut most people are like horses; they have only their manual labor to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>9\/I don&#8217;t believe that, and I don&#8217;t want to live in a world in which that&#8217;s the case. I think people everywhere have far more potential.<\/p>\n<p>Marc Andreessen @pmarca<br \/>\n1\/Thought experiment: Posit a world in which all material needs are provided free, by robots and material synthesizers.<\/p>\n<p>2\/Housing, energy, health care, food, transportation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All delivered to everyone for $0, by machines. Zero jobs in those fields remaining.<\/p>\n<p>3\/What would be the key characteristics of that world, and what would it be like to live in it?<\/p>\n<p>4\/First, it&#8217;s a consumer utopia: Everyone enjoys a standard of living that kings and Popes could have only dreamed.<\/p>\n<p>5\/Fifth [sic], all human time, labor, energy, ambition, and goals reorient to the intangibles: the big questions, the deep needs.<\/p>\n<p>6\/Human nature expresses itself fully, for the first time in history. Without physical need constraints, we will be whoever we want to be.<\/p>\n<p>7\/The main fields of human endeavor will be culture, arts, sciences, creativity, philosophy, experimentation, exploration, adventure.<\/p>\n<p>8\/Rather than nothing to do, we would have everything to do: curiosity, artistic and scientific creativity, new forms of status seeking (!).<\/p>\n<p>9\/Imagine six, or 10, billion people doing nothing but arts and sciences, culture and exploring and learning. What a world that would be.<\/p>\n<p>10\/The problem seems unlikely to be that we get there too fast. The problem seems like [sic] to be that we&#8217;ll get there too slow.<\/p>\n<p>11\/Utopian fantasy you say? OK, so then what&#8217;s your preferred long-term state? What else should we be shooting for, if not this?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Marc Andreessen is an\u00a0American entrepreneur, investor and software engineer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>@pmarca 1\/One of the most interesting topics in modern times is the \u201crobots eat all the jobs\u201d thesis; best book on topic: [The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.] 2\/The thesis is that computers can more and more substitute for human labor, thus displacing jobs and creating unemployment. 3\/At core, this is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":236253,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-08-30T04:49:13Z","apple_news_api_id":"138eafc9-ef39-4eaf-905f-fc4a4be324eb","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-08-30T04:49:13Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AE46vye85Tq-QX_xKS-Mk6w","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9346],"tags":[],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[],"class_list":["post-263667","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why the Luddites are wrong<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the Luddites are wrong\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"@pmarca 1\/One of the most interesting topics in modern times is the \u201crobots eat all the jobs\u201d thesis; best book on topic: [The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.] 2\/The thesis is that computers can more and more substitute for human labor, thus displacing jobs and creating unemployment. 3\/At core, this is [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Policy Options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T00:55:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"110\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"110\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@irpp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why the Luddites are wrong\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-02T18:00:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T00:55:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png\",\"width\":110,\"height\":110},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/andreessen\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Policyflix\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/policyflix\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Why the Luddites are wrong\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/\",\"name\":\"Policy Options\",\"description\":\"Institute for Research on Public Policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/policyoptions.irpp.org\\\/fr\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why the Luddites are wrong","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why the Luddites are wrong","og_description":"@pmarca 1\/One of the most interesting topics in modern times is the \u201crobots eat all the jobs\u201d thesis; best book on topic: [The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.] 2\/The thesis is that computers can more and more substitute for human labor, thus displacing jobs and creating unemployment. 3\/At core, this is [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/","og_site_name":"Policy Options","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org","article_modified_time":"2025-10-08T00:55:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":110,"height":110,"url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@irpp","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/","name":"Why the Luddites are wrong","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png","datePublished":"2014-11-02T18:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-08T00:55:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NB-Andreesen-avatar.png","width":110,"height":110},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2014\/11\/andreessen\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Policyflix","item":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/2014\/11\/policyflix\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why the Luddites are wrong"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/","name":"Policy Options","description":"Institute for Research on Public Policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues\/263667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issues"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263667"},{"taxonomy":"article-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-status?post=263667"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-category?post=263667"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=263667"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-tag?post=263667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}