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What's unclear is whether this differs from the past, when new technologies have created more jobs than they destroyed. The fear of technological unemployment isn't new. In the early 1800s, English workers destroyed mechanical looms to prevent these efficient machines from taking their jobs. One alleged leader was Ned Ludd - hence the term "Luddite," someone resisting new technologies.
In 1964, technology anxieties caused President Lyndon B. Johnson to create a national commission on automation. When it reported in 1966, the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.8 percent. "Technological shocks have been happening for decades, and ... the U.S. economy has been adapting to them," writes economist Timothy Taylor (whose Web site recounts the 1960s episode).
One reason is that new technologies typically involve lower prices, superior value or both. This creates a huge demand. Take airlines. After World War II, railroads still dominated intercity travel. But airlines' greater speed and increasing size, especially after the advent of jets in the late 1950s, made trains uncompetitive. Adjusted for inflation, airfares declined. While rail travel collapsed, the number of annual airline passengers rose from 19 million in 1950 to 737 million in 2012. In 2014, the industry employed 589,000 full- and part-time workers.
The same logic applies now. Someone has to design, program, service and coordinate the robots and other digitized processes. Job creation is inevitable.
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2015/03/16/can_we_adapt_to_the_rise_of_the_robot_101583.html
What's unclear is whether this differs from the past, when new technologies have created more jobs than they destroyed. The fear of technological unemployment isn't new. In the early 1800s, English workers destroyed mechanical looms to prevent these efficient machines from taking their jobs. One alleged leader was Ned Ludd - hence the term "Luddite," someone resisting new technologies.
In 1964, technology anxieties caused President Lyndon B. Johnson to create a national commission on automation. When it reported in 1966, the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.8 percent. "Technological shocks have been happening for decades, and ... the U.S. economy has been adapting to them," writes economist Timothy Taylor (whose Web site recounts the 1960s episode).
One reason is that new technologies typically involve lower prices, superior value or both. This creates a huge demand. Take airlines. After World War II, railroads still dominated intercity travel. But airlines' greater speed and increasing size, especially after the advent of jets in the late 1950s, made trains uncompetitive. Adjusted for inflation, airfares declined. While rail travel collapsed, the number of annual airline passengers rose from 19 million in 1950 to 737 million in 2012. In 2014, the industry employed 589,000 full- and part-time workers.
The same logic applies now. Someone has to design, program, service and coordinate the robots and other digitized processes. Job creation is inevitable.
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2015/03/16/can_we_adapt_to_the_rise_of_the_robot_101583.html
