&quot;The story of secular stagnation is that we have too little demand to keep the economy and the workforce fully employed.&quot;<p>The standing assumption here is that it is obviously Right and Good for everyone to have a job and work and that the Government must, at all costs, do everything in its power to create jobs so that everyone can work. However, not everyone wants to do traditional work- some want to be caretakers to their family, some want to pursue alternative lifestyles such as homesteading, and yeah some just want to be supremely lazy. Assuming that it is always ultimately Right and Good to have jobs for everyone regardless of inclination and ability leads to crazy finagling to &quot;create&quot; jobs and to never even consider eliminating jobs by any means (such as dismantling Government agencies that have been shown to be completely useless <i>cough cough</i> TSA <i>cough cough</i>).<p>Personally, I think having a base income for everyone in the US would boost the economy way more than job creation and assuming everyone should work. Eliminating homelessness, poverty, and hunger would ensure that every person in society lived at a high basic level of existence and would free up time, effort, and money that is currently tied up in serving the poor, hungry, and homeless. However, I cannot see that ever becoming a reality in the US so the point is probably moot.