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This is a great blanket defense against any kind of improvement for workers. But it’s not logically sound. First of all, companies are already automating and ou

This is a great blanket defense against any kind of improvement for workers. But it’s not logically sound. First of all, companies are already automating and outsourcing jobs away - they aren’t waiting around for people to ask for a raise before they do it. Second, is asparagus harvesting something that can be reasonably automated away at the moment? I’m not sure it is, are you?

cscurmudgeon 3y ago
> But it’s not logically sound Just saying it doesn't make it so. There is a ton of evidence wage hikes lead to automation (it is not even controversial among economists): https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/evidence-minimum-wage-hikes-result-in-workers-being-replaced-by-robots.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/evidence-minimum-wage-hikes-... https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23667/w23667.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23667/w236... > Second, is asparagus harvesting something that can be reasonably automated away at the moment? I’m not sure it is, are you? Is all farming just asparagus harvesting? Does it need to happen at this moment or not at all? Good intentions + surface-level thinking don't guarantee good outcomes. https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/systems-thinking-and-the-cobra-effect https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/systems-thinking-and-the-cobra-e...