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What about the scifi trope of robots making things? After all the productivity of a single human has been skyrocketing for more than a century now. I do not whi
by krastanov 5y ago
What about the scifi trope of robots making things? After all the productivity of a single human has been skyrocketing for more than a century now. I do not which -ism that is. Somewhere between socialism and startrekism I guess.
- rayiner 5y agoFun fact, it hasn’t, outside of a handful of sectors: https://aneconomicsense.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/real-value-added-per-worker-1947-to-20151.png https://aneconomicsense.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/real-val...
- kasey_junk 5y agoWait. I’m not sure I understand what that chart is supposed to show. Are you suggesting because the GDP is only linearly growing productivity is not increasing?
- rayiner 5y agoNo, look at the “services and construction” line. That measures output per worker in that sector (2/3 of the economy) since 1947. That’s a measure of productivity per worker. It’s grown at only 0.9% over that time. A big chunk of even that tepid growth is in a handful of areas like finance. In vast swaths of the economy, workers aren’t any more productive today than in 1947. Everything from building houses to caring for kids and old people to serving diners at restaurants, etc. We can make iPhones with fewer workers than ever but the post-scarcity economy is very far away.
- kasey_junk 5y agoI don’t have much of an opinion on the scarcity economy but I think you could read that chart differently. The industries that have listed the longest, agriculture, manufacturing etc have seen explosive productivity growth. So you might predict services are next.