You see, according to this theory, there is no such thing as “involuntary unemployment.” People like Rembold — and the 3,300 workers who may end up losing their jobs with UTC at the end of next year — choose to be out of work.
The theory assumes people are rational beings operating according to their self-interest. It assumes that, because America is the land of opportunity, failure is your fault. You can find work. It’s there. Bite the bullet. Swallow your pride. The theory has a lot in common with the idea of the rugged American. Reagan made them one and the same, and since the 1980s, people like Rembold, hard-working white men without college educations, have believed it.
But such economic theories do not take into account all the forces beyond a man’s control — such as globalization, automation and a political structure oriented by business interests. Because it does not take into account forces beyond a man’s control, advocates of classical macroeconomic theory tend to see unemployment with condescending eyes.
