It’s Not Automation, It’s the Trade Deficit

It’s Not Automation, It’s the Trade Deficit

This kid is clearly skeptical of robots. But don’t blame them — or automation — for manufacturing job loss in the United States. | Photo by John Martin A common refrain in economic commentary on the nature of work, and the changes in manufacturing employment, is basically:

“Trade didn’t take those jobs. It was robots. The robots did it!”

Okay, maybe it’s not the terminators who are doing it. Rather, it’s industrial automation: We make more stuff with less people, because manufacturing is now performed by automated processes. This idea is breezily inserted into all kinds of articles, including ones with […]

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