You really have to listen to Mika Brzezinski's voice rising as if in a question as she pronounces the very last word in an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal column—and watch the expression on her face—to appreciate how utterly baffled, befuddled and bewildered she seems by the simple notion that increasing the cost of hiring motivates employers to automate their operations.
The column, "The Employee of the Month Has a Battery," noted that restaurant chains like Chili's are introducing tabletop ordering devices and eliminating server positions. Author Michael Saltsman makes the incontrovertible argument that "policy makers are encouraging the switch to technology by increasing the cost of hiring." But just listen to Mika pronounce that last word, and watch the ensuing expression on her face, to see how the notion leaves her at a complete loss. View the video after the jump.
Can Mika truly not understand Saltsman's simple point? If, say, enlightened liberals push the price of hiring a server [when all associated costs are included] to $20/hr., but the employer can provide as good or better service to customers via automation at, say, $10/hr., the employer will find Option B awfully attractive. Or is it that when confronted with that economic reality, Brzezinski would simply want the world to go away, leaving liberals to their do-gooding fantasies?
