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Amazon is about to make groceries better but inequality far worse

When Amazon unveiled plans on Tuesday for grocery stores without cashiers, it seemed like an omen of the future: A store full of shoppers, with just a few workers in the background.

Are the robots coming for our jobs? (Some of them.) Is Amazon Go the future? (Probably.)

And yes: It could create some jobs, too. But as for the jobs it’ll leave behind, that’s where bad news gets worse. It’s not just that Amazon’s grocery-buying disruption will cost jobs—it’s that the people who rely on those jobs are already our country’s most economically vulnerable. It’s a bad situation made worse.In […]

A Canadian Province Just Passed a Resolution for Universal Basic Income

The four political party leaders in PEI unanimously supported the decision to establish a program that would guarantee all citizens a basic income.

A UBI could potentially decrease poverty, improve health, reduce crime, and raise education levels at a time when increased job loss is imminent due to advances in technology.

UBI for PEI The government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) has taken a major step forward toward the implementation of a universal basic income (UBI) for citizens of the small Canadian province as state legislature has approved the proposed initiative .The four political party leaders in PEI […]

Automation destroyed 20 million manufacturing jobs

Summary:
I am becoming increasingly frustrated by all the articles I’m reading about how trade is supposedly decimating jobs in US manufacturing. I went to the FRED data set, and they have manufacturing output (real) going back to the first quarter of 1987. So let’s start there. Their series shows total manufacturing output rising from 69.789 in 1987 to 129.129 in the most recent quarter. That’s an 85% gain. At the same time, manufacturing employment has fallen, from 17.499 million to 12.275 million. This represents a decline from 17.3% of total employment to only 8.5% of total employment. […]

futurism.com | A Canadian Province Just Passed a Resolution for Universal Basic Income

futurism.com | A Canadian Province Just Passed a Resolution for Universal Basic Income

UBI for PEI

The government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) has taken a major step forward toward the implementation of a universal basic income (UBI) for citizens of the small Canadian province as state legislature has approved the proposed initiative .

The four political party leaders in PEI unanimously supported the decision to work with the country’s government to establish a hopefully successful pilot program that could lower poverty, improve health, reduce crime, and raise education levels. Successfully passing the legislation is just the beginning, however. They now have to bring the system to reality and successfully implement it.Despite […]

Is Universal Basic Income a good idea?

Is Universal Basic Income a good idea?

Campaigners for a Universal Basic Income or Citizen’s Basic Income are calling for the state to give everyone, including rich and poor, earners and non-earners, adults and children, a uniform sum of money each week. It is a simple idea that has wide appeal, not least to those concerned about the impact of automation on jobs and the misery caused to people who must prove their incapacity to work to qualify for income support.

Like most ‘silver bullet’ solutions, its apparent simplicity belies its many contradictions and dangers. Here are some reasons why it is not a good idea.

1. […]

How to support yourself after the robot revolution

How to support yourself after the robot revolution

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Here’s a startling prediction: if current labor trends continue, one out of three American men, ages 25-54, will be out of work by mid-century.That’s what former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers expects. “Job destruction caused by technology is not a futuristic concern,” Summers wrote this fall. “It is something we have been living with for two generations.”Contract jobs, gig work and robots have all made work more precarious. Silicon Valley pioneered many of the changes, and now some tech entrepreneurs believe they have a solution to the economic anxiety they’ve helped create.Put bluntly, it’s free […]

A Canadian Province Just Passed a Resolution for Universal Basic Income

A Canadian Province Just Passed a Resolution for Universal Basic Income

The four political party leaders in PEI unanimously supported the decision to establish a program that would guarantee all citizens a basic income.

A UBI could potentially decrease poverty, improve health, reduce crime, and raise education levels at a time when increased job loss is imminent due to advances in technology.

UBI for PEI The government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) has taken a major step forward toward the implementation of a universal basic income (UBI) for citizens of the small Canadian province as state legislature has approved the proposed initiative .The four political party leaders in PEI […]

Let’s not freak out about the “next major job killer” just yet

Let’s not freak out about the “next major job killer” just yet

Humans: still useful. Amazon Go, the company’s latest store concept , allows shoppers to take products off shelves and walk out the door without waiting in a checkout line or dealing with a cashier. Instead, sensors and computer vision keep tabs on how much to charge customers’ Amazon accounts for their purchases.

By ostensibly eliminating the need for any human interaction, many have concluded that Amazon Go must be, as the New York Post put it, “the next major job killer to face Americans.” About 3.5 million people in the US work as cashiers, according to the Bureau of Labor […]

Automation is inevitable. Here’s how to make sure we create jobs, not just destroy them.

Automation is inevitable. Here’s how to make sure we create jobs, not just destroy them.

In October, Uber-owned Otto announced that it had completed the first commercial driverless truck delivery in Colorado. In November, McDonald’s announced that it was rolling out touchscreen ordering systems nationwide. Now, Amazon is opening a new convenience store with no checkout lines and no cashiers.

Add it all up, and it looks like an apocalyptic future for low-skilled workers. Cashiers and fast food workers are near the top of the government’s list of the jobs that employ the most people in the United States, with 3.3 million and 2.9 million workers working at these jobs, respectively. Truck drivers account for […]

How to support yourself after the robot revolution

How to support yourself after the robot revolution

Steve Gardner

Here’s a startling prediction: if current labor trends continue, one out of three American men, ages 25-54, will be out of work by mid-century.

That’s what former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers expects. “Job destruction caused by technology is not a futuristic concern,” Summers wrote this fall. “It is something we have been living with for two generations.”Contract jobs, gig work and robots have all made work more precarious. Silicon Valley pioneered many of the changes, and now some tech entrepreneurs believe they have a solution to the economic anxiety they’ve helped create.Put bluntly, it’s free money. […]