Friday 2015-01-23

The jobs question all around the world is the extent to which service-sector jobs can provide a broad base of careers for a wide range of skill levels.
...
In high-income countries, there are concerns that service industry jobs can tend to be polarized, with options for low-skill workers who do service jobs where a physical presence is needed, and high-skill workers who make heavy use of information and communications technology, but a hollowing out of options for the middle class.
-- Timothy Taylor

This will likely be an increasingly thorny question for politicians.

In the past, some leaders have felt responsible for the welfare of the people. E.g. Umar from the Rashidun Caliphate is supposed to have taken ultimate responsibility for his region's economy.

As second caliph of Islam, he refused to chop off the hands of the thieves because he felt he had fallen short of his responsibility to provide meaningful employment to all his subjects.
-- Saeed Mohtsham on Umar

This responsibility can weigh heavy, and it will be tempting to approve make-work projects such as Japan has created.