Increasing unemployment levels is definitely something to worry about and if ignored can lead to an an economic crisis. Improving technology and innovation has always been seen as a threat to employment levels.
How afraid should workers be of these new technologies? There is reason
to be skeptical of the assumption that machines will leave humanity
without jobs. After all, history has seen many waves of innovation and
automation, and yet as recently as 2000, the rate of unemployment was a
mere 4 percent. There are unlimited human wants, so there is always more
work to be done. The economic theory of comparative advantage suggests
that even unskilled workers can gain from selling their services,
thereby liberating the more skilled workers for more productive tasks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/business/automation-alone-isnt-killing-jobs.html?ref=unitedstateseconomy&_r=0
Do you think this is a legitimate worry for us (as seniors graduating and soon to join the work force)? Should we be concerned or do you think its just one of the many speculative claims made by people who are anti-technology/automation? Does automation really kills jobs on a significant scale?
Technological innovation leads to the creation of more productive jobs. Classic example is farming technology. The Industrial Revolution allowed the US population to dedicate less people to the agricultural sector without sacrificing its output levels and shift workers to better jobs. This transition period from a agricultural economy to an industrial economy lead to an explosion in personal wealth and greater opportunities. Eventually, newer technology allowed US to transform into a post-industrial economy, leading to another explosion in wealth.
ReplyDeleteIn the short-run, some concern is understandable. But, in the long-run, I am not worried.
I agree with Tyler. In the short-run as technology allows fewer workers to produce the same number of goods, workers in certain industries will be laid off. However in the long run, as the article points out, these workers will be used for more productive tasks. While short-term unemployment may rise, it will not be a long-term issue.
ReplyDeleteI remember during the public debates between Obama and Romney that Obama made a very salient point in my opinion. He said something along the lines that some jobs, for reasons of becoming obsolete due to technological advancement and outsourcing to other countries, will never return to the US. But those are also the jobs that we do not want to focus on as much - we want to use technological innovation to spur new, more skilled jobs. I agree with the points made in the article and the previous two comments, and in the long term I think the main lesson to me is that I want to make sure I have a job that cannot be automated.
ReplyDeleteOn a somewhat related note, I think it is interesting that companies are now starting to market their responsibility in the supply chain. I think after the Bangladesh factory collapse, the public became more interested in these issues. This is a link that is found right on Apple's first page now - http://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/.
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ReplyDeleteWith progressing technology, jobs will simply switch from one sector to the other. It is easier to point out where jobs are being lost because of a certain technology; people barely point out the number of jobs that has been created as a direct result of such technology. Overall effect is generally positive and the number of jobs created is larger than the job lost. In short run, there will be concerns from the people who have lost jobs from certain sectors.
ReplyDeleteit makes sense because the article puts it "there are unlimited human wants, so there is always more work to be done. The economic theory of comparative advantage suggests that even unskilled workers can gain from selling their services, thereby liberating the more skilled workers for more productive tasks."
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments that in the short run there will be some unemployment concerns in a specific sector/industry because of technological innovation. As mentioned before, in the long run, those concerns should go away. And technology is definitely not the only concern for unemployment as the author mentioned technology, education and market demand as main causes for concern. I personally think that education and the cost of an education is the most pressing cause for concern.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone so far. I think that automatization will create some sort of unemployment. However, this unemployment will be in the short-run and in specific sectors. Therefore, it won't affect the overall employment levels.
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