I would like to start a new “internet meme”. The topic today is “Modern Myths”. What popular myths do you know? What things do many people take for granted, but are actually false?

1. Full employment/zero unemployment is achievable.
It isn’t. The market never clears instantly, so there will always be a natural rate of unemployment. Of course we should aim to reduce unemployment as much as possible, but I recently found out that some people believed zero unemployment was achievable.

2. Growth is possible without job losses.
It isn’t. There is nothing bad about people losing jobs (except for them, in the short run), because ultimately they can do other things, the economy becomes more efficient, more wealth is produced and everyone is better off.
But I used to think that of course it would be better if growth could be achieved without job losses.
I read recently a very simple argument that growth is not even possible without job losses. For growth to occur, labour has to become more productive. Therefore, a company will be able to do the same work with fewer people. Therefore, job losses.

3. Genetically modified food is bad. “Natural” means good.
I do not quite understand the opposition to genetically modified food. For some reason, people think that “natural” or “organic” means good and “artificial” means bad. Of course there is no link: there are plenty of natural poisons, and natural foods which are bad for you. There are plenty of foods with added chemicals which are fine. Perhaps it is because people do not understand that all food, whether “natural” or “unnatural”, is made of chemicals, which can be isolated and are identical whether grown naturally or synthesised in a lab.
People campaign against GM food trials on the grounds that it could escape and grow in the wild (”contamination”). But this begging the question: it is not contamination unless the food is bad in the first place. Why would it be? Genomes, whether natural or altered in a lab, are fundamentally the same. What is the problem?