From the original article 'Students today might be taught by a teacher who is himself unable to work out 37+16 without help' I take it that this is extreme exaggeration to make the point. Such a person would clearly not be fit to teach any subject let alone one requiring numeracy skills at its core.
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I think most people who seem unable are just unwilling. I can do that in my head, but it's a lot of effort without practice. Someone less patient might put "37" and "16" in their mind, start adding, and interpret the block they hit when trying to carry the 1 as "can't do it."
It's hard to imagine not being able to do it if you're practiced, but it's as hard to do as anything else you never have to do when you never do it.
You're kidding right? I know many teachers that can't utilize the correct "your|you're" instance with any degree of consistency; I don't see how they'd be able to work out 37+16 without at least writing it down.