Tag: manufactur

Trump is right to ditch TPP. How about the WTO next?

Trump is right to ditch TPP. How about the WTO next?

President-elect Donald Trump faces heavy pressure from the establishment to abandon his campaign promises on trade policy. His announcement on Monday saying that he would pull out of President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on his first day in office shows that he’s not giving in – and for the sake of a healthy economy he must stand his ground.

Tune into Worldwide Exchange on Wednesday Nov. 23 at 5:15 am when Alan Tonelson will make a guest appearance.

Trade supporters are employing arguments that have repulsed challengers for decades, at least in the halls of government: that the string […]

How robots are changing Minnesota’s workforce

How robots are changing Minnesota's workforce

Baxter, a two-armed robot, has been with Atlas Manufacturing for more than a year, performing tasks that would otherwise require two human operators. On the main floor of Minneapolis-based Atlas Manufacturing, Baxter is hard at work: She places metal pieces on a giant machine in a process that bends and punches parts before picking up the pieces and carefully arranging them on a nearby counter.

It’s a repetitive task, and at times, agonizing. But Baxter doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she’s able to do the work around the clock throughout the year — without requiring lunch breaks. Or sick […]

‘Technological Automation and the Soft Skill Revolution’ has no comments

'Technological Automation and the Soft Skill Revolution' has no comments

In 2014 technology research firm Gartner projected that one-third of global jobs will be replaced by robotics, software, or machine learning by 2025. While technological advancements have been shifting entire labor markets since the beginning of time, the rate at which Moore’s Law is increasingly blurring the lines between algorithmic computing and human decision making promises to make this era of automation far different than those that have come before.

As about half of all jobs in both the U.S. and OECD countries become automated over the next two decades, governments and firms across the world must adapt to a […]

Compulsory Education Exacerbates Automation’s Job Loss

There has been much speculation and justified anxiety concerning how advances in Computer Science (in the field of Artificial Intelligence – AI – in particular) and Robotics could result in mass unemployment due to automation. However, the fact that compulsory education exacerbates this especially problematic aspect of technological progress is largely neglected in such discussions.

Although AI does indeed pose a threat for many jobs that can be automated (in manufacturing, for example), there are many more ‘jobs’ that require human creativity and imagination. Furthermore, even the AIs will have to be monitored; Amitai Etzioni and Oren Etzioni (2016), for […]

Technology is exacerbating unemployment and wage stagnation – and it’s set to only get worse

Technology is exacerbating unemployment and wage stagnation – and it's set to only get worse

In Silicon Valley, only 1.8 per cent of workers are employed in new industries For most people, a secure, fairly paid job is the difference between a reasonable life and destitution. Today changes in the structure of the work force make this objective increasingly elusive.

Technology exacerbated declines in employment and incomes by eliminating certain tasks and deskilling many jobs. Robotics and complex computerised equipment successfully replaced often skilled labour. Computer software is now replacing journalists being able to synthesise news items electronically up crawling the worldwide web. Even traders in financial markets are being replaced by automated algorithms.

In the […]

New UN report on automation: low-skill jobs are disappearing much faster than expected, especially in the developing world

New UN report on automation: low-skill jobs are disappearing much faster than expected, especially in the developing world

Key findings: Increased use of robots in developed countries erodes traditional labour-cost advantage of developing countries.

Labour-intensive manufacturing in large developing countries with domestic production linkages is unlikely to be reshored to developed countries.

Whatever the impacts, outcomes will be shaped by policies. Developing countries need to redesign education policies and embrace the digital revolution – this approach should be combined with supportive macroeconomic, industrial and social policies. Abstract:Industrialization has historically been synonymous with development, while deindustrialization is a well-established trend in mature developed economies as they move towards services-based economies. Yet recent trends show that many developing countries […]

Manufacturing Jobs Aren’t Coming Back

Manufacturing Jobs Aren’t Coming Back

Pundits will debate the wellsprings of Donald Trump’s election triumph for years. Right now, cultural explanations are in the lead. Multiple researchers and journalists are stressing the role of "racial resentments" and xenophobia as the deepest sources of Trump’s appeal. And such explanations cannot be dismissed.

But the decades-long decline of U.S. manufacturing employment and the highly automated nature of the sector’s recent revitalization should also be high on the list of explanations. The former is an unmistakable source of the working class rage that helped get Trump elected. The latter is the main reason Trump won’t be able to […]

Trump’s populism is only the beginning. Here come the robots.

Trump's populism is only the beginning. Here come the robots.

See how Amazon packages ship with less than :60 in human hands Populism is sweeping the nation, but it’s likely just getting started.

Donald Trump’s win is a wake-up call that voters are angry with a system that’s made middle-class jobs tougher to come by, and increased inequality.

As pronounced as the trend already is, it’s only just the beginning, experts say. Looming technological advances will wipe out more jobs, broadening the base of disenfranchised, unemployable and frustrated citizens. Meanwhile, elites with the skills to flourish in the digital economy will get richer. And governments will have to figure out […]

Trump’s jobs plan faces a bigger challenge than China

Trump's jobs plan faces a bigger challenge than China

Robots may prevent Trump from bringing back the manufacturing jobs he promised. Source: Reuters President-elect Donald Trump has promised to wage a war against globalization, to bring back jobs that corporations have sent abroad. But what about all the jobs that simply don’t exist anymore, left behind by advances in technology?

For anyone in the US manufacturing economy Trump has been describing, a job lost to China looks and feels identical to a job lost to technology, making it hard to effectively get to the bottom of what’s happening—and how to fix it for the American workforce.

From Federal Reserve data, […]

Should Manufacturing Come Back to America?

Should Manufacturing Come Back to America?

In recent years and especially during the latest presidential election cycle, the issue of manufacturing in America has been raised repeatedly. Many, particularly those who have lost jobs in the manufacturing sector as a result of increasing globalization, believe that a strong industrial base is required for America’s economic growth and stability. Opponents of measures to bring manufacturing jobs back point to increased prices and pressure to automate as reasons that the American economy should move past its manufacturing-based phase.

Pros of Bringing Manufacturing Back

Proponents of policies that would force or heavily incentivize businesses to bring manufacturing jobs […]