Quotation of the Day…

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… is from page 406 of the late, great UCLA economists Armen Alchian’s and William R. Allen’s Universal Economics (2018; Jerry L. Jordan, ed.); this volume is an updated version of Alchian’s and Allen’s magnificent and pioneering earlier textbook, University Economics:

Almost every socially benign advance in technology or production has harmed someone. The development of electricity harmed the whaling industry, which provided oil for lamps. The telegraph harmed the Pony Express owners and riders, but the worth of the benefits to the public far exceeded those costs. Supermarkets forced most small retailers to switch to employment as managers or clerks in big stores, and the public benefited by lower prices and more convenience. Electric refrigerators displaced ice deliverymen. The zipper hurt button producers. The automobile, radio, television, and computers all displaced producers of other goods and services, but the public at large gained.