Companies often lay off a whole department of scientists to shift to a new product, destroying not only human capital, but also human lives. Moreover, flexible labor markets imply adversarial labor relations, particularly when compared to northern European countries.
比如，为了维持高水平创新，美国的劳动力市场在成熟经济体中是最灵活的。但这并不是没有成本的。公司为了转向新产品而砍掉整个部门的科学家稀松平常，这不仅伤害了人力资本，也有损于人民生活。此外，灵活的劳动力市场意味着对立的劳动关系，这一点在与北欧国家作比较时最为明显。北欧国家的创新性不及美国，但经济和社会更具韧性。