Author: automata

What can governments do when jobs run out?

What can governments do when jobs run out?

As automation makes more jobs redundant, policymakers cannot put off discussing universal basic income as an option. (Shutterstock image) Martin Ford writes in the Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future that around 47% of total employment in the US, around 64 million jobs, have the potential to be automated perhaps within a decade or two. Europe is already facing a crisis of jobs. Youth unemployment in Italy stands around 36% while it is nearly 44% in Spain. Thanks to offshoring and automation, we are seeing a polarisation in the labour market that is […]

Universal basic income: the dangerous idea of 2016

The resurrection of universal basic income (UBI) proposals in the developed world this year gained support from some prominent Australians . But while good in theory, it’s no panacea for the challenges of our modern economy.

UBI proposals centre on the idea that the government would pay a flat fee to every adult citizen, regardless of his or her engagement in skill-building activities or the paid labour market, as a partial or complete substitute for existing social security and welfare programs.

Of the schemes run in developing places like Kenya, Uganda, and India, some have been evaluated statistically , delivering some […]

Finland Is Running A Basic Income Experiment, And There Is Much To Learn

Finland Is Running A Basic Income Experiment, And There Is Much To Learn

Taken from http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/Finland-money-624756.jpg. The key problem at the moment, with discourse about basic income, is that evaluations do not go beyond the superficial or the general.

The key problem at the moment, with discourse about basic income, is that evaluations do not go beyond the superficial or the general. By generalising the policy concept of the basic income – of a guaranteed income provided by the government to citizens – and therefore ignoring the specifics or the permutations of different models through which basic income could be implemented, policymakers moot perspectives which are neither conclusive nor helpful. The same tired […]

Universal basic income: The dangerous idea of 2016

Universal basic income: The dangerous idea of 2016

Opinion Proponents of the universal basic income overlook its potential to be a reverse Robin Hood scheme. The resurrection of universal basic income (UBI) proposals in the developed world this year gained support from some prominent Australians.

But while good in theory, it’s no panacea for the challenges of our modern economy.

UBI proposals centre on the idea that the government would pay a flat fee to every adult citizen, regardless of his or her engagement in skill-building activities or the paid labour market, as a partial or complete substitute for existing social security and welfare programs.Of the schemes run in […]

We're Frogs and Automation is Boiling Water

We're Frogs and Automation is Boiling Water

If you put water on the stove and heat it up, it will at first just get hotter and hotter. You may then conclude that heating water results only in hotter water. But at some point everything changes – the water starts to boil, turning from hot liquid into steam. Physicists call this a “phase transition.”

Automation , driven by technological progress, has been increasing inexorably for the past several decades. Two schools of economic thinking have for many years been engaged in a debate about the potential effects of automation on jobs, employment and human activity: will new […]

Semi Automated Weapons.

Machines want your job! Well, they would if they could feel desire. [1] I guess I really mean that your employer wants your job. Not for him/her self, or even for some idiot nephew/niece. S/he wants it for a machine. Liable to get it too. Only about 13 percent (1/8-1/7) of job losses are the result of foreign competition. The rest are the result of automation cutting the need for workers. [2]

Thus, in 1962, about 530,000 people worked in the American steel industry. In 2005, about 130,000 people worked in the American steel industry. That’s a 75 percent […]

Basic income is a radical idea bound for the political mainstream – here’s why

Basic income is a radical idea bound for the political mainstream – here's why

Here’s the best gift you can give this Christmas. Warm winter clothes for a child. Help a Syrian child survive the cold by providing a set of warm winter clothing. Your gift will kit out a vulnerable child with jackets, trousers, fleeces, boots or strong shoes, scarf and a hat. Writing Sparks Writing Life Brilliant Definition Definition For Politicians Today Politics Today People Politics 2016 Politics Truth And Interests snollygoster (n.) someone, especially a politician, who acts for personal gain instead of consistent, respectable principles. See more Ugh Truth Feminist Feels Social Shit Social Justice Equality Truths Feminism Tumblr […]

Build Your Own Basic Income

Build Your Own Basic Income

Basic income is a contentious – and common – subject these days.

The concept of robots taking over people’s jobs used to be something out of science fiction movies, but that’s not the case any longer.

Automation is real. It’s increasing and improving. And it seems increasingly likely that there will be far less jobs in the future, especially for people who lack the education, intelligence, or interest to participate in the new economy and workforce that will develop as a result.And so you have a lot of people who believe that basic income is the only possible solution at this […]

How Bitcoin Could Make Distributing a Universal Basic Income Actually Possible

Beyond the crypto realm, universal basic income has seen a little traction.

Swarm’s DCOs claims to provide a basic income, although Slepak thinks the inner workings need further explanation.

Basic income, and especially universal basic income, requires a secure, tamper-proof ledger that can be audited by anyone to ensure the safe delivery of funds,” Slepak said. Future tech could make it easier to implement basic income. A Group Currency must identify all members (because you don’t want any one member to receive multiple incomes). Future robots will nab your job, but cryptocurrency could save your income. @scottsantens : @darcnos […]

Is a Universal Basic Income the Answer to Automation-Caused Unemployment?

In Brief

With automation poised to take over an estimated 57 percent of jobs, many are turning to universal basic income (UBI) as a possible solution to widespread unemployment.

t UBI systems are already being tested in countries such as Canada, Finland, and the Netherlands, so hard data on the practicality of such systems should be forthcoming. Disruption and Displacement While technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will clearly make a lot of processes easier and more cost-effective, the impending repercussions need to be addressed before the inevitable happens. As automation begins to take over several jobs, […]