The mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, is repaving the pedestrian area in the center of the city with handsome stone. The project is controversial, as ever, but it still employs quite a number of people while accomplishing something useful in the long run. Concrete blocks that are being replaced are far from pretty, either. As far as employment is concerned, though, technology is in the way. What would have taken a thousand workers during the Great Depression now takes at most a hundred. It will take them much longer to replace all the concrete blocks section by section, but doing so across the entire pedestrian area at once would cause disruption in its use. The construction sector still works wonders when it comes to employing people, but ever less so due to technological advances. As well as to the sensitivity of all those affected by the rumpus. I can imagine John Maynard Keynes visiting the Croatian capital and shaking his head. “Good,” he would mumble, “but not good enough.”

Addendum (December 18, 2016)

As luck would have it, the pedestrian area in the center of the Croatian capital has been repaved so inexpertly that construction workers reappear every once in a while. The main problem is that the new stone pavement is not designed to withstand the weight of many trucks that deliver all sorts of things to the cafés, restaurants, and stores in the area. Although the continuous repairs most likely go as maintenance in the mayor’s office, the problem is actually structural. The entire pedestrian area would need to be repaved once again. Be that as it may, Keynes would be rather happy with Bandić. Quite a few construction workers are now busy in the center of Zagreb on a regular basis. Hooray!