Tag: productivity

The Skills Delusion

The Skills Delusion

Adair Turner Everybody agrees that better education and improved skills, for as many people as possible, is crucial to increasing productivity and living standards and to tackling rising inequality. But what if everybody is wrong?

Most economists are certain that human capital is as important to productivity growth as physical capital. And to some degree, that’s obviously true. Modern economies would not be possible without widespread literacy and numeracy: many emerging economies are held back by inadequate skills.

But one striking feature of the modern economy is how few skilled people are needed to drive crucial areas of economic activity. Facebook […]

Blame put on robots for job losses

Blame put on robots for job losses

A worker loads spools of thread at the automated Repreve yarn-making plant in Yadkinville, N.C., which is part of the Unifi textile company. Drone carts at the plant now do jobs that people once did. WASHINGTON — Donald Trump blames Mexico and China for stealing millions of jobs from the United States.

He might want to bash the robots instead.

Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s claim that "we don’t make anything anymore," manufacturing is still flourishing in America. Problem is, factories don’t need as many people as they used to because machines now do so much of the work.America has lost […]

Elon Musk: We Need Universal Income Because Robots Will Steal All the Jobs

Elon Musk: We Need Universal Income Because Robots Will Steal All the Jobs

Images: Getty Spacentrepreneur Elon Musk thinks we’ll eventually need a basic universal income because of “automation.”

Advertisement

“People will have time to do other things, more complex things, more interesting things,” he told CNBC . “Certainly more leisure time. And then we gotta figure how we integrate with a world and future with a vast AI.”“Ultimately, I think there has to be some improved symbiosis with digital super intelligence,” the Tesla CEO said. 0:00 / 0:00 What will happen if robots steal our jobs? It’s a question that’s been on the minds of both the proletariat and the bourgeoisie since the […]

Elon Musk Thinks Universal Income Is Answer To Automation Taking Human Jobs

but menial jobs that generate less value than a living wage but also pay much less than a living wage so the company generates a net profit while taking advantage of someone in a desperate situation, yes those jobs are becoming widespread. 1. But they’re not becoming widespread. Wages are increasing almost everywhere in the world, and jobs are becoming less menial. Compare the terrible jobs that the vast majority had 100 years ago to the jobs they have today. Or the jobs people have in developing countries to the jobs they have in more advanced economies.

This scaremongering being […]

U.S. Manufacturing: Politicians Get it All Wrong

U.S. Manufacturing: Politicians Get it All Wrong

Output is Strong, But Workers Lack Skills for Today’s Jobs

Sharelines Politicians often use the state of manufacturing in the United States as a benchmark for the economy as a whole. And they tend to focus on the supposedly declining number of manufacturing jobs as an indication of economic weakness.

It’s just a small step from there, as we have seen in the current presidential race, to blaming trade and globalization for the current state of affairs.But, as a recent report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, points out, much of this information is […]

Robots, not Mexico, taking U.S. factory jobs

Robots, not Mexico, taking U.S. factory jobs

Equipment to sort recycled plastic is shown at the Repreve Bottle Processing Center, part of the Unifi textile company in Reidsville, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. America has lost more than 7 million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979. Yet American factory production, minus raw materials and some other costs, more than doubled over the same span to $1.91 trillion last year, according to the Commerce Department, which uses 2009 dollars to adjust for inflation. That’s a notch below the record set on the eve of the Great Recession in 2007. And it makes U.S. manufacturers No. […]

How will artificial intelligence impact on our jobs?

How will artificial intelligence impact on our jobs?

In her fourth article in her series on artificial intelligence, Helen Beers looks at how making machines smart might impact on our jobs and and considers whether it will put anyone out of work as a result.

Catch up on Helen’s previous articles on what artificial intelligence is , the current trends and future developments , and what’s enabling and hindering artificial intelligence .

For centuries, people have been afraid that technology will take their jobs. For example, in the 16 th Century, Elizabeth I believed a machine for knitting stockings would bring ruin to her subjects by […]

US factories still thriving, but robots mean fewer workers

US factories still thriving, but robots mean fewer workers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump blames Mexico and China for stealing millions of jobs from the United States.

He might want to bash the robots instead.

Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s charge that "we don’t make anything anymore," manufacturing is still flourishing in America. Problem is, factories don’t need as many people as they used to because machines now do so much of the work.America has lost more than 7 million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979. Yet American factory production, minus raw materials and some other costs, more than doubled over the same span to $1.91 trillion last […]

Mexico taking U.S. factory jobs? Blame robots instead

Nov. 2, 2016 – Donald Trump blames Mexico and China for stealing millions of jobs from the United States. He might want to bash the robots instead.

Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s charge that “we don’t make anything anymore,” manufacturing is still flourishing in America. Problem is, factories don’t need as many people as they used to because machines now do so much of the work.

America has lost more than 7 million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979. Yet American factory production, minus raw materials and some other costs, more than doubled over the same span to $1.91 […]

Mexico stealing factory jobs? Blame automation instead

Mexico stealing factory jobs? Blame automation instead

Employees work on the assembly line at the Volkswagen auto factory in Puebla, Mexico. REUTERS/Imelda Medina WASHINGTON — Donald Trump blames Mexico and China for stealing millions of jobs from the United States.

He might want to bash the robots instead.

Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s charge that “we don’t make anything anymore,” manufacturing is still flourishing in America. Problem is, factories don’t need as many people as they used to because machines now do so much of the work . Play Video America has lost more than seven million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979. Yet American factory […]