Tag: liberal

Are Robots Killing the American Dream?

Are Robots Killing the American Dream?

It’s an argument that’s being had at the moment all across the US as people continue to fight for and against globalism and all it stands for. However, some people are blaming globalization and liberalized international trade for killing the American Dream and affecting the US manufacturing industry. But, that’s not really true at all. Keep on reading to see why. Global trade isn’t to blame for what automaton has done. The combination of both automation and international trade is what has damaged some of the local economies. Trade with China in particular has driven down wages and employment […]

Is the American Dream being Killed by Robots?

Is the American Dream being Killed by Robots?

It is a very debate in a world wide scale about whether automation and artificial intelligence is killing the american dream or not, and if it has an impact on the liberalized free trade and affecting the US manufacturing industry. But that is not true at all.

Global trade isn’t to blame for what and how automation has been impacting. The combination of both automation and international trade has damaged local economies, for example the trade with China in particular has been driving down the paychecks of the employees. Without this type of international trade the US economy wouldn’t be […]

The Age of Mass Unemployment Is Nigh, and That’s Not the Worst of It

The Age of Mass Unemployment Is Nigh, and That’s Not the Worst of It

HOMO DEUS: A Brief History of Tomorrow By Yuval Noah Harari Published February 21, 2017 Illustrated. 449 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $35. Among the many scandals and comments that derailed Andy Puzder’s campaign to become Labor Secretary was an interview he gave after visiting a partially automated restaurant, where no human interaction is required.

The CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains, told Business Insider in May that he was investing in automation as a way to deal with rising labor costs due to an increase in the minimum wage, before offering a cynical explanation […]

In Pursuit of Profession: Jobs of Future Past?

In Pursuit of Profession: Jobs of Future Past?

The hot topic in education these days is science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM classes. Both public and private school districts have even dedicated entire campuses where the focus is on the STEM subjects. In addition, short-term coding programs – called coding boot camps – have popped up in cities across the nation that promise to teach students from all walks of life how to code in as little as twelve weeks. These programs not only profess a graduation rate of more than 90-percent, graduates can also expect to earn a six-figure salary with several companies competing […]

‘Made in America’ label not fading

‘Made in America’ label not fading

“America doesn’t make anything anymore.”

It’s been a sad refrain in factory towns where brick and concrete crumble around the padlocked gates of what once was the city’s largest employer. It’s something politicians have said, only to promise that with their help, we can make things again. It’s something shoppers might deduce when peeking at the tags of their most recent purchases.

But it isn’t true. Enlarge American factories are more productive now than they have ever been. That’s the case even in so-called rust belt states. Ohio manufacturers likely will set a record this year for the value of […]

Robots aren’t killing the American Dream. Neither is trade. This is the problem.

Robots aren’t killing the American Dream. Neither is trade. This is the problem.

Robots named Thunderbird and Cyclops lower a Tesla vehicle onto the assembly line at Tesla Motors factory in Fremont, Calif., in 2016. (Joseph White/Reuters) “ No, robots aren’t killing the American Dream ,” argued the New York Times editorial board in February. As evidence, the Times emphasized that labor productivity and capital investment have decelerated in the new century. In theory, that wouldn’t be happening if automation were the main reason that the middle class has been shedding jobs.

Unfortunately, that argument leads many people to conclude that globalization and liberalized international trade must be what’s hurting U.S. manufacturing. That’s […]

Michael Hicks: We need better planning for automation

Michael Hicks: We need better planning for automation

There is remarkable angst growing over the role of machines in the production of goods and services. While we are right to be concerned over the labor market effects of automation, most folks worry about the wrong things. That can lead to some stunningly wasteful, if not outright hurtful, public policies. Here’s why.

All technological change, from the shovel to the microcomputer, is designed to save labor. At the same time — and only in market-based economies — new work continues to materialize and business endeavors to hire more workers. For all of recorded history, automation and productivity improvement creates […]

It’s time to tax the robots

It’s time to tax the robots

Credit: Pixabay Bill Gates has a modest proposal: Tax robots to slow the growth of automation and fund the kinds of important jobs our economy ignores, such as caring for children and the elderly.

In an interview with the website Quartz , Gates notes that when a human does $50,000 worth of work, that income is taxed and money goes to the government, but when a robot does the work, no tax is paid on it. So he argues that robots need to be taxed to make up for that lost governmental income — and also to slow down the […]

Dutch anger is about robots, and immigrants

From the towering offices of Rotterdam’s port authority, you can watch the never-ending stream of barges begin their river journeys to the Rhine and points across Europe, carrying everything from Chinese microwave ovens to iron ore from Brazil.

Rotterdam boasts Europe’s biggest port, which depends on the globalized economy for its success and 130,000 jobs. Yet this North Sea gateway to the world is also the birthplace of an anti-globalization, anti-immigrant and anti-Islam movement that is on course to place first in Dutch elections on March 15.

The appeal of its current leader, the peroxide blond Geert Wilders, seems a paradox […]

Dutch voter anger about immigrants, yes, but anger about robots, too

Dutch voter anger about immigrants, yes, but anger about robots, too

From the towering offices of Rotterdam’s port authority, you can watch the never-ending stream of barges begin their river journeys to the Rhine and points across Europe, carrying everything from Chinese microwave ovens to iron ore from Brazil.

Rotterdam boasts Europe’s biggest port, which depends on the globalised economy for its success and 130,000 jobs. Yet this North Sea gateway to the world is also the birthplace of an anti-globalization, anti-immigrant and anti-Islam movement that is on course to place first in Dutch elections on March 15.

The appeal of its current leader, the peroxide blond Geert Wilders, seems a paradox […]