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Functional Inefficiency

The Unexpected Benefits of Wasting Time and Money

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
How can we reduce unemployment? As this insightful and counterintuitive book shows, the surprising answer is inefficiency. Some of the most labor-intensive sectors of the economy, the author notes, are also the most inefficient. But this inefficiency is functional-rather than impairing the economy, it bolsters employment and fosters economic growth. Technological progress increases efficiency and reduces the need for workers in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and many services. So how do we keep people working? By maintaining inefficiencies in other areas, such as in our systems of transportation and healthcare. The author documents the waste of time and money in hospital systems, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, automotive travel, and road construction and maintenance. These inefficiencies are tolerated because they provide a lot of jobs and promote economic growth, making them functional inefficiencies. Some of these inefficient systems come with added environmental and health costs, meaning we sacrifice more than simple efficiency for the sake of jobs. Our inefficiencies may be functional, argues Peter Wenz, but they are too often harmful for us as well. The good news is that most of these inefficiencies can be reduced without increasing unemployment or impairing economic growth. Wenz explores different methods of combating unemployment, evaluating each method carefully to determine its basic efficiencies and inefficiencies, as well as its impact on human wellbeing and on the environment. He also assesses whether it is culturally and politically acceptable and actually serves to reduce unemployment. Some inefficiency will remain, he concludes, but its negative impacts can be lessened through increased investment in physical and human infrastructure. Functional Inefficiencyoffers a wealth of details and a unique analysis of our economic system, plus hope for our future prospects through reduced inefficiency.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 27, 2015
      The solution to reducing unemployment? Inefficiency, according to philosophy professor Wenz’s (Take Back the Center) bold manifesto, which poses seemingly paradoxical solutions to America’s economic ills. While labor inefficiency would appear to doom the U.S. economy by making American workers even more expensive than they already are, Wenz points out that European countries have strong labor unions and reduced work weeks, and they still enjoy favorable trade balances. True, the European approach requires more socialistic practices than American voters would likely support: government-provided daycare, medical care, and leisure, paid for by significantly higher taxes. But Wenz contends that we already tolerate rampant inefficiency. Americans pay significantly more for health care than people in other countries do, with inferior outcomes. Americans drive private automobiles rather than developing efficient systems of public transportation. And Americans promulgate a consumerist culture that, if fully embraced by the developing world, threatens the whole planet. Wenz throws out ideas almost faster than the reader can absorb them—a paragraph seldom passes without at least one footnote—yet some sensible notions arise from this bustling compendium. Wenz wisely suggests expanding employment in education, energy production, and infrastructure improvement—all areas, he says, that are ripe for infinite expansion and can improve both GNP and quality of life.

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  • English

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