They Add up to a Whole Lotta Nothing

With 7 million more people unemployed today than two years ago, why is the GNP higher than it has ever been? Who was really working?

Michael Philips says: “get a haircut and get job, ya bum!” Actually he doesn’t, but he makes a fine point about the inconsequential effect that useless people have on GDP:

First, you could layoff every green worker and many government workers (it has been done before) and no one would know the difference. We need to add in all the people who complain about their jobs, nearly everyone who has a job based solely on union rules and everyone who works for an incompetent supervisor or manager.

in other words, people whose role in the economy (and society when you think about how that imputes,) is meaningless.