4 ms·
This is THE most salient story about the 21st century economy
by jbooth 15y ago
This is THE most salient story about the 21st century economy
- pointillistic 15y agoIt's not just the machines but also the machine driven outsourcing. But guess what, people have to eat and it will hit the fan soon enough.
- yummyfajitas 15y agoIf only our policymakers accepted this. Unfortunately, they are still clinging to economic models which reduce the economy to 2 variables (occasionally a few more) and simple calculus. Not that they even pay attention to the predictions of those 2 variable models...
- EwanG 15y agoSo if you had their attention what would you tell them? If there is a solution to this problem that lets us all retire without the economy collapsing, I'd be curious to hear it. As it is we can put off that day for some time, but eventually you will get to the point where the "thinking machines" have all the knowledge of how to run our companies. Then the only jobs left will be those that can't be learned. I don't see all of us becoming artists, and even if we did, how would we con the machines into paying us for it?
- yummyfajitas 15y agoIf there is a solution to this problem that lets us all retire without the economy collapsing, I'd be curious to hear it. There is - replacing human labor with robotic labor.
- dctoedt 15y agoAnd then what will occupy the time of energetic, testosterone-driven young men (mostly) with a wired-in urge to prove their manhood, to better themselves, to leave their mark on the world? We already know part of the answer: Street gangs. Drug cartels. Maritime piracy. Violent jihad.
- yummyfajitas 15y agoYeah, that's why our current recession, chock full of unemployed men, has caused a crime wave. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/07/us-usa-crime-idUSTRE60613K20100107 http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/07/us-usa-crime-idUST...
- dctoedt 15y agoThe U.S. has a social safety net that buffers these tendencies. It's not hard to find countries that don't.
- meric 15y agoInteresting story: http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- SamReidHughes 15y agoWhat about the 20th century economy? And the 19th? Healthcare costs aren't going to rise like that for the entire century.
- Tichy 15y agoHasn't the story begun much earlier than the 21st century? Any human invention that made a task easier probably played a part.