Jason Furman of the Council of Economic Advisers gave an illuminating talk on the sources of weak business investment, largely aimed at refuting the “Ma! He’s looking at me funny!” school, which attributes US economic weakness to the way the Obama administration has created uncertainty, or hurt businessmen’s feelings, or something. As Furman shows, it’s a global slowdown, very much consistent with the “accelerator” model in which the level of investment demand depends on the rate of growth of overall demand.

It seems worth pointing out, or actually reiterating, several implications of this analysis that go beyond Obama-bashing and its discontents.

MOLYVOS, Greece — Here’s a rough guide to the modern world: More efficiency, less humanity. Technology is principally at the service of productivity. Acts of irrational grace are not its thing. They have no algorithm.

Greece has made me think about everything statistics don’t tell you. No European country has been as battered in recent years. No European country has responded with as much consistent humanity to the refugee crisis.

Greater prosperity equals diminishing generosity. Device distraction equals inability to give of your time. Modernity fosters the transactional relationship over the human relationship. The rules are not absolute, but they are useful indicators.

In general, the refugees have been well received. There have been clashes, including on Lesbos, but almost none of the miserable bigotry, petty calculation, schoolyard petulance and amnesiac small-mindedness emanating from European Union countries further north, particularly Hungary.