Eliminating unemployment under capitalism is technically possible but politically unacceptable.

Evidence

In 1943, the Polish economist Michał Kalecki, one of the most important and innovative theorists of the past century, reflected that within capitalism, eliminating unemployment might be a technical possibility, but it certainly is not a political one. He argued, “Under a regime of permanent full employment, the ‘sack’ would cease to play its role as a disciplinary measure… [creating] political tension” in a short article titled “Political Aspects of Full Employment,” which warned against Keynesian technocratic optimism. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 255

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces ‘the sack’ — firing — as a disciplinary measure, the core mechanism of Mattei’s reserve-army argument.
• XREF: This is the theoretical heart of Mattei’s thesis, complementing Bernanke/other chair apologias encountered elsewhere. — connects to: Unemployment is not a flaw of capitalism but essential to it — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 251; Full employment is politically impossible under capitalism because firing would lose its disciplinary power — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 255