Productivity can also be unleashed by broadening access to opportunities. Many rich-world labour markets are divided between the high- and low-skilled. That is tolerable so long as anyone can climb the ladder. Governments have a responsibility to ensure meritocratic access to education and sufficient opportunities for retraining. They should tear down barriers to entry such as needless occupational licensing rules—the legal and medical professions, for example, should not be allowed to pull up the drawbridge to outsiders. It should be easy to experiment with new digital and cross-border business models.

But helping workers by boosting productivity must not be confused with self-defeating attempts to protect them—as happened the last time they had the upper hand, in the 1970s. Repatriating supply chains, as Mr Biden would, will inhibit competition and grind down living standards. Cranking up corporate taxes too far will reduce the incentive for firms to invest. For central banks to lose their inflation-fighting credibility would be a disaster. Just ask the workers who bore the brunt of efforts to tame prices in the 1980s.

People tend to be sentimental about how wonderful work used to be, grumpy about how it is and fearful of what it will become. In fact, working life has improved over the ages—and the promise today is as bright as it ever was. Time to get on the ride.

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