Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz at the Economic Policy Institute write—Robots, or automation, are not the problem: Too little worker power is:
The fear of job-stealing robots has been recently stoked in the media and pundits frequently refer to automation as a key driver of long-term middle-class wage stagnation. But are robots actually transforming the labor market at an unprecedented pace? Nope—in fact, the opposite is true. First, it’s important to note that technology and automation have consistently transformed the way work gets done. So, technology itself is not a problem.
Robots and automation allow us to increase efficiency by making more things for less money. When goods and services are cheaper, consumers can afford to buy more robot-made stuff, or have money left over to spend on other things. When consumers spend their leftover cash on additional goods and services, it creates jobs. These new jobs help compensate for the jobs lost to automation.
But are robots now eroding jobs and replacing human labor at a faster pace that the economy can’t absorb? Again, no. [...]
We need to give the robot scare a rest. Robots are not leading to mass joblessness and are not the cause of wage stagnation or growing wage inequality. Recently, the New York Times referred to the robot scare as a “distraction from real problems and real solutions.” Instead, we should focus on policy choices that lead to things that truly threaten workers and their families like eroding labor standards, declining unionization, elevated unemployment, unbalanced globalization, and declining top tax rates.
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“I think people are entitled to march without a permit. When you have a few hundred thousand people on the street you have permission.”
—Tom Hayden, The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama, 2009
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2004—The legacy of McCain-Feingold:
Campaign Finance Reform. It was the ultimate political paradox. While Republicans held a 3x fundraising lead from hard-dollar donations, Democrats had parity in unregulated soft-dollar donations.
Yet Democrats voted for it, trapped between their support for good government and their addiction to soft dollars. Meanwhile, the GOP, who apparently had the most to gain, fought it tooth and nail.
Now, the big Ds (DNC, DCCC, and DSCC) face huge money disparities vis a vis their cash-flush GOP counterparts. Bush will have two to three times as much money as our Democratic nominee. So by winning, and by pushing good government, Democrats lost, right?
HIGH IMPACT STORIES • TOP COMMENTS
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Trump cheats at golf, and wants to Gaslight you about it, too. Felix Sater finally has more eyes on him. Is the “alt-right” just a sex cult? No, it’s much more. And worse. Labor Sec. pick Acosta connected to US Attorneys scandal & the wrist-slap for Jeffrey Epstein.
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