The automation debate – whether robots will take your job – has led to a dangerous theory: we face mass unemployment, so we need a basic income. A host of billionaires support this theory: Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Elon Musk of Tesla, Pierre Omidyar of eBay, and maybe Jeff Bezos of Amazon. There is academic support. Two researchers did a paper titled ‘The future of employment’ in 2013, claiming in the abstract that 47 per cent of American jobs were at risk from automation. A basic income has both admirable supporters and Milton Friedman. But the narrative is deeply […]
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