Progressive Luddites and Gustave de Molinari’s Final Words
In spite of a seemingly endless number of examples to the contrary, we continue to be confronted, even in 2015, with the widespread idea that technological innovation can destroy jobs and wealth. Each new labor-saving technology leads to worried speculations by those who fear any challenge to the status quo.
Astute economists and observers in every era have debunked this idea again and again. Writing in 1911, for example, the French economist and philosopher Gustave de Molinari addressed this issue in his final book, Ultima Verba : Mon Dernier Ouvrage (Ultima Verba: My Last Work). At that time, Molinari was ninety-one years old and had only one more year to live. However, he was still writing with great lucidity and his book is a merciless attack against protectionism, taxation, the military-industrial complex, and government privilege.
In Ultima Verba, Molinari address the common argument claiming new technologies are destroying wealth and jobs — an argument which had been refuted by Frédéric Bastiat more than sixty years before in Economic Sophisms.
Molinari asks the question: “is an automobile wealth?” This question, today, seems completely absurd. Unless one is a radical environmentalist, one is extremely unlikely to conclude that an automobile does not have value. The enormous number of people worldwide who own automobiles have already demonstrated their disagreement.
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