Barack Obama says that the bad economy isn’t his fault because of things like ATM machines:
“There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM, you don’t go to a bank teller, or you go to the airport and you’re using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate.”
Now I don’t think his idea is without merit. The technological revolutions of the last few decades and the challenges of globalization have changed the nature of our economy in significant ways. But I’m not sure how you can possibly blame ATMs. Aside from the myriad ways in which ATMs boost efficiency, liquidity, consumer spending (and don’t forget all of the jobs created for technicians and manufacturers of ATM machines), I’m not sure you can even blame a drop in bank teller jobs on bank machines. This is just a quick take, but just think about it for two seconds. The number of bank branches has soared in recent years. Those branches need human tellers (and bank machines). That’s why the BLS predicted that teller jobs would grow about 6% from 2008 to 2018 (it predicted other banking jobs would grow as well). That estimate may be lower now because of the recession, but that’s the recession’s fault — i.e. in Obama’s political wheelhouse — and not because of the “structural” issues Obama’s trying to pass the blame off to.
For instance, consider this:
At the dawn of the self-service banking age in 1985, for example, the United States had 60,000 automated teller machines and 485,000 bank tellers. In 2002, the United States had 352,000 ATMs – and 527,000 bank tellers.
Guess who was president in 2002.
Meanwhile, Obama does want to make some structural changes to the economy that will destroy very good paying jobs in the energy sector. If his clean energy-win-the-future-regulate-carbon proposals were implemented, it would throw vast numbers of people out of work in the coal, oil and gas industries. And there’s zero reason to believe that the “green jobs” he would replace them with would be better paying. And, we’d all pay more for more expensive energy, either as consumers or as taxpayers footing the bills for subsidies.
If you want to talk about job-killing structural issues, that’s a good place to start.
Jonah, you're letting him Obama the hook waaay too easily.
His statement reflects a degree of ignorance of basic economics that would be stunning from a college graduate, let alone the President of the United States.
Obama's ignorance is a variation on Bastiat's fallacy: why not destroy all those ATMs so bank tellers can have jobs?
No wonder he threw a trillion dollars away on the "stimulus" plan-- he literally doesn't know what he's doing.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, I think that's right. You hear something similar from regulators like the EPA. The other day they claimed that lower emissions standards for power plants will have economic benefits due to the additional labor that will be required to satisfy the regulations.
Why is it that Economists don't make much effort to point out these fallacies? I imagine that if the President went out there and talked up perpetual motion machines, Physicists would speak out.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"letting Obama off the hook"
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGreat, now we have a neo-luddite for a president. That's exactly what we need. Dave hits the nail on the head about his ignorance, but to be honest, it's still a massive understatement.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe president might have saved some invective for these newfangled motorcars, which -- as most economists agree -- have utterly decimated America's once powerful horse & buggy industry. Millions of displaced buggy operators now sit around every day wondering whether their lives will ever have value again. Unfortunately, as the president will attest, the answer is no -- these jobs aren't coming back. Just ask the bank tellers.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe brilliance that spews forth from the mouth of our POTUS should be the gift that keeps on giving. There is so much material out there that should be used in the general election next fall that it shouldn't be fair.
When our leader uses TOTUS, he espouses the pearls of wisdom from one who isn't even 30 years old. When he speaks off the cuff, he speaks as one who has basically never had a "real" job, has never made a payroll and most likely never took an economics course.
If we can't find the people or the nerve to shove these words down the throats of the left we need to look at packing our tent. The only thing missing so far is a nice fireside chat telling us to set the ac to 80 and the furnace to 65. Oh wait, I think we already have that one as well (minus the sweater and the fireplace).
This election cycle should play out as well as a battle scene from Braveheart.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusewith every intent of being pedantic - "atm machine"???
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe bad economy is the result of efficiency.
Yep, seems legit.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Now I don’t think his idea is without merit" - Uh, no, Jonah. The idea itself is nonsense on steriods. Or are you ruing the invention of the cotton gin? "My grandpappy picked cotton and all these newfangled technologies are puttin' people out of work!"
They're not; they're freeing human resources for higher-order, more productive economic activities that have not yet been automated.
Obama is an economic idiot and this statement of his only proves that point. I'm a little disappointed that you gave him ANY credit for the idea.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWho could forget the great bank teller layoff of 2009?
More seriously, it would be hard to tally the exact plusses and minuses attributable to such technological changes. Technology did bring us cable TV and cell phone tower installers.
The employment growth area should be in Democratic fact checkers.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd as an aside, what were these mythical technological advances between 2008 and 2011 that helped to raise structural unemployment in this country to a level that would explain Obama's current economy?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt was a stupid illustrative example, but Obama isn't completely wrong on the general point; for example, for all the yammering about exporting manufacturing jobs, the reality is that while those jobs as a % of the workforce has gone down, manufacturing output has gone up (at least through 2007). Did Obama mention manufacturing jobs and productivity gains, or did he only mention tellers?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Now I don’t think his idea is without merit."
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Uh, inefficiency leads to prosperity?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, it is without merit.
Obama's quote makes perfect sense. Look at those numbers. Over a period of 17 years, ATMS grow by a factor of 6, and bank tellers grew by 6%. You're telling me that that is a sign that human bank tellers are doing well?
Automated teller machines are indeed substitutes for human bank tellers, I think we can begrudge Obama his point in this case.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI really hope you're being sarcastic.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo are you telling us you think if not for ATMs, that the number of bank tellers would have increased sixfold ?
Complete nonsense. His point if infantile. Maybe you should go back and read some of the other comments that illustrate through the analogy of previous technological advances, just how idiotic the idea really is.
Which is to say nothing of the jobs provided by the design, manufacture, maintenance, and periodic filling of those ATMs.
Its called productivity increases, and they free up labor resources for areas that need those resources.
The biggest flaw in this idea is that the recession began in 2008 and yet the automation you're talking about has been around for decades. There was no magical trigger in 2008 whereby suddenly automation took over and everyone lost their jobs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"ATM Machine" -- straight from the bureau of redundancy bureau.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet's get rid of those damned time and labor-saving devices -- ATMs, tractors, email, chain saws, soda vending machines, everything -- we'll be rich I tells ya!!
Obama is an economic genius!!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Amish really are on to something, aren't they.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBy the way, I have indeed seen bank branches pop up everywhere this past decade. Has there been a surge in demand for retail banking? I suppose it's wildly profitable to have a retail bank, but the growth in branches has been quite surprising to me.
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