Tuesday, January 03, 2012

A Siren Speaks, We should Listen

Bruce MacEwen, President of Adam Smith Esq, a modern US law firm founded in 2003, with a portrait-figurine of Adam Smith in its heading. Adam Smith Esq., “is an inquiry into the economics of law firms” and Its focus is on “the business and economics of the global legal sector”. It is not connected with Adam Smith scholarship as such, but, nevertheless, I have visited its Blog site regularly purely out of interest since 2005.

Bruce posted (30 December) HERE a thought-provoking article (too long for Lost Legacy reproduction, or editing without destroying its flow): “A Second Economy as Big as the First?”

I recommend that you read it before the hurly-burly of your labours (or search for a job) begins in 2012 because:

“Every once in awhile--and the calendar's odometric rollover from one year to the next is as good an occasion as any -- it's wise to stand back and try to gain a little perspective”.

It certainly has makes you think about the implications for the wealth of nations. Let me know what you think of it.

1 Comments:

Blogger hettygreen said...

A lot of science fiction writers have used the 'end of work' theme as the basis of some amusing and also frightening and discouragingly distopic views of a future where mankind has surrendered to (or perhaps been conquered by) machines/technology. H.G. Wells, Phillip K. Dick immediately come to mind. The idea however that this transformation occurs at some ideal, benevolent and ultimately utopian 'Goldilocks' pace is one against which I would take serious issue. Humanity has grown rapidly since the Industrial Revolution to meet the demand for human capital (essentially labour). Once machines tending machines predominates in manufacturing, agriculture and services and physical resources become scarcer a lot of our worker bees will become painfully redundant. Depending how rapidly this transition occurs and the degree in which chaos invariably ensues, the 'philosopher' class (already an endangered species), will have its hands full with basic survival, let alone the luxury of time required for more benevolent and beneficial cogitations on the welfare of mankind. The choice of philosophizing or eating will be an easy one for those earmarked 'surplus' in this new world which, I suspect, will not in its incipient stages be the least bit brave or orderly for the majority of its members.

3:22 pm  

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