Irving Wladawsky-Berger: Global Arbitrage and the Productivity Puzzle

Irving Wladawsky-Berger: Global Arbitrage and the Productivity Puzzle



comment:



One flaw would appear to be the idea of "compulsion", as a US company might be compelled, as Obama tried with restrictions and penalties on inversions; but the US company eventually has to compete with the 'non-compelled' companies headquartered in other countries for production and R&D.



As such, I'd also posit that an emphasis  on supporting corporate and entrepreneurial startups and education, which are almost anathema to the compelled philosophy with accompanying regulatory zeal, are showing that jobs can be created when individuals are empowered and a focus is on 'opportunity' versus 'outcome'.



'Outcome' based programs obviously feed directly into emotional drivers of entitlement, which blame others and disincentivize.



If there are 6 million, ostensibly well-compensated, cross-class jobs going unfilled in the US, these facts alone would seem to argue that the incentives and support for education and training have been mis-directed and the funds appropriated by other entitled classes in society (here I might suggest that 2 places to look are those using government tax monies, which could otherwise be used for education and training but are going for eldercare and public pensions).



There are clearly no easy solutions as current-consumption (including at a government and social level) makes investments in future technologies more difficult.



It is also clear that some low-tech jobs may need to be socially supported as either long-term job and careers and as entry ladders for many people. Notwithstanding, the emphasis should be on helping people opportunistically participate in the higher skilled and better compensated parts of the economy.