Robots and the Which Way Is Up Problem in China

As I like to point out, debates on economic policy suffer badly from the "which way is up problem." At the same time we are constantly hearing concerns about aging baby boomers and large budget deficits (too little supply and too much demand) we also hear stories about robots displacing workers and creating mass unemployment (too much supply and too little demand).

Either of these stories could, in principle, be true, but they can't possibly both be true at the same time. It speaks volumes fo...