&gt;If someone thinks that jobs need to be created through artificial means to keep people busy and give them some money, then that person has a rather dim view of human potential<p>One of the 3 main goals of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 is to achieve maximum employment. This is why politicians harangue  on &quot;putting country x back to work&quot;. The idea that &quot;the devil finds work for idle hands to do&quot; is deeply ingrained in the fundamental assumptions of political economy.