8 ms·

Sometimes I wonder if any new investment that I make in my skillset is just buying me a few more months of profitable employment at some point around say 2050.

Sometimes I wonder if any new investment that I make in my skillset is just buying me a few more months of profitable employment at some point around say 2050. The loss of employment for less skilled labour is happening now, but I see no reason why eventually all labour could be supplanted by increasingly efficient machinery/robotics (for physical tasks), and AI for information/services tasks. Capital is increasingly producing greater returns than labour, and market pressure is causing businesses to invest in capital as a result... but what does the economy do when labour cannot produce or earn, and hence cannot spend?

cantankerous 13y ago
but what does the economy do when labour cannot produce or earn, and hence cannot spend? The economy ceases to do anything for labour, and then people start to fight.
bad_user 13y ago
I see people in this thread discussing efficiency brought by technology, however people are missing an important factor for the drive to automation - employment taxes. Given our economic crisis, the IMF for example is forcing governments to raise taxes to insurmountable levels. In our country, many companies have to resort to tax evasion just for survival and now the government is trying to shove new taxes down our throats (because hey, let's not target the big tax evationists, but rather the stupid fucks that paid their taxes until now). So when the taxes you have to pay for producing goods or services exceed your other operational costs, what do you do? Well, governments aren't taxing the usage of robots yet. Bingo. I think we should be glad that automation happens. Because it's better for a factory to remain in your own country, even if fully automated, then it is to be outsourced to China. Even an automated factory generates local jobs, either directly (engineers, cleaning people) or indirectly (connected industries).

cantankerous 13y ago

but what does the economy do when labour cannot produce or earn, and hence cannot spend? The economy ceases to do anything for labour, and then people start to fight.

bad_user 13y ago

I see people in this thread discussing efficiency brought by technology, however people are missing an important factor for the drive to automation - employment taxes. Given our economic crisis, the IMF for example is forcing governments to raise taxes to insurmountable levels. In our country, many companies have to resort to tax evasion just for survival and now the government is trying to shove new taxes down our throats (because hey, let's not target the big tax evationists, but rather the stupid fucks that paid their taxes until now). So when the taxes you have to pay for producing goods or services exceed your other operational costs, what do you do? Well, governments aren't taxing the usage of robots yet. Bingo. I think we should be glad that automation happens. Because it's better for a factory to remain in your own country, even if fully automated, then it is to be outsourced to China. Even an automated factory generates local jobs, either directly (engineers, cleaning people) or indirectly (connected industries).