When Professor Ira Sohn argues (Letters, February 9) that any work that requires personal contact is “a dead-end job”, he merely highlights what’s wrong with society and the world today.
He also quotes Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, who would rather stand in-line at a pharmacy than use computerised checkout stations.
That these are now underpaid and undervalued positions is due in large part to people like Professor Sohn — more often than not men — who live their theoretical lives online, and promote the idea that some employment is unproductive.
It would be interesting to know which parts of the labour force he believes to be redundant — electricians, building labourers, plumbers, cleaners, baby-minders, restaurant staff, nurses, gardeners, delivery riders, etc.
How many “professors of economics and finance” does the world really need?
Surely, those lectures can be fed through a computer — over and over again.
Yvonne Koenig
New York, NY, US
Letter: Let’s value checkout staff, and economics professors
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