Should we intentionally slow the pace of technological change to help workers?

So another, shall we say, “soft” productivity report. Hourly output per worker decreased at a 0.6% annualized rate in the first quarter. Nothing new there. Productivity has been increasing at just a 0.6% annual pace over the past five years vs. 2.2% from 1947 through 2007. Yet at the same time, many people are worried robots will soon make humans so productive that we will need far fewer carbon-based workers in the future. (“It’s No Myth: Robots and Artificial Intelligence Will Erase Jobs in Nearly Every Industry.”)

Of course maybe one day the worriers will be proven correct, and […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.