Little Tommy's oft repeated, remarkably stupid, view that technology and globalization changes everything also gets the public policy completely wrong. If we're entering a world of job-shifting entrepreneurship, with high-risk/high-reward opportunities for the talented and diligent,* then we need a government that provides a foundation for that world. That means not just a really solid set of social insurance programs independent of people's jobs, like health care and pensions, but also a stronger basic infrastructure.
Pull optical fiber to every post office and set up public wireless. Give everyone a bank account at the Fed. Restore access to inexpensive higher education. Stop the copyright and patent madness. The best public policy in Tommy's world would eliminate the parasitic monopolists choking off innovation and opportunity.
*Tommy and his ilk leave out the most important factor of all: luck.
