I don't use the European study to shoot down Graeber's thesis. On the contrary, I debunk that study to defend the BS jobs thesis. And that's a good point you raise about the difference between the European and American job markets. The American one is more precarious.

I think we can indeed objectively assess whether a job or industry is "pernicious," as in harmful and self-destructive. Whether Graeber could have bankrolled the tests isn't the point. I'm doing philosophy here, not science.