Suppose the Capitalists were really to let the “efficiency algorithm" loose on the economy. Would we end up with a "people free economy" because human workers and consumers are too inefficient? The problem highlights the central problem in justifying “efficient monopolies” at the cost of distributing wealth.

More broadly, having economists proudly calculating efficiencies on a random spreadsheet while 2.7 billion had zero “social protection” during the COVID-19 pandemic is absurd. Efficiency cannot be discussed without the broader impact of how everyone is doing in terms of satisfying their basic needs.