一位作者在Hacker News上发表观点，质疑了社会中普遍存在的"每个人都应该工作"这一隐含假设[1]。他从经济学角度论证，技术进步不断提高劳动力的门槛，在某些情况下，经济上可能实际希望支付某些人不进入劳动力市场[1]。作者以油价曾跌至负值作类比，说明经济有时会为了整体利益而"补贴不工作"，尽管当前的税收与福利制度缺乏实现这一点的机制[1]。
作者援引Acemoglu和Restrepo 2026年的研究，表明"每个人都应该工作"这一假设在过去40多年已经伤害了经济[1]。他进一步指出，"给一个无能力的人安排工作，无论我们如何培训，从总体上看，这可能给经济造成的成本比利益还多"[1]。这一观点挑战了当前基于全民就业假设的政策框架。
An article published on Hacker News questions the widely held social assumption that everyone should be employed, arguing that economic theory does not necessarily support this premise [1]. The author contends that technological advancement continuously raises the threshold for labor market participation, creating scenarios where the economy might actually benefit from paying certain individuals to remain outside the workforce [1].
Drawing on research by Acemoglu and Restrepo from 2026, the author presents evidence that this assumption has damaged economic performance over the past four decades [1]. The piece employs an unconventional analogy: just as oil prices have fallen to negative values in certain market conditions, economic logic could theoretically support subsidizing non-participation for some workers [1]. According to the author's reasoning, "giving a job to a stupid person, regardless of how much we try and train them, might cost the economy more than we benefit, in aggregate" [1].
The author critiques current tax and welfare systems for being constructed on the foundational premise that full employment is necessary and desirable [1]. This structural assumption, the article suggests, may ultimately prove counterproductive to broader economic health [1].