I'm no economist, but it seems to me that we're just experiencing society slowly learning how to deal with this new 'software' thing. Before the introduction o

I'm no economist, but it seems to me that we're just experiencing society slowly learning how to deal with this new 'software' thing. Before the introduction of computers into the workplace, things were fundamentally different. Productivity inched up incrementally year after year, and we dealt with that very well. We understood it, and we structured things to function smoothly with it. Between 1950 and 1980, average worker productivity grew by 76% and the average compensation of the lower 90% of the economy rose by 75%. Then computers showed up. Instead of worker productivity inching up slowly, it started multiplying. Your secretary didn't go from being able to answer 25 letters a day to 27, she went from being able to answer 25 letters a day to 150. No one knew how to deal with this. Keeping worker compensation in line with the value being created would require annual raises to get much larger. Companies would need fewer workers every year to reach the same levels of productivity. Entirely new products and services became possible all at the same time. Companies needed thinkers, not laborers. So many things changed so fast. And societies and economies don't really 'do' fast. 1980 was yesterday as far as social change is concerned. Analysts are still looking at companies and industries through lenses shaped by the Industrial Revolution - and most companies are operating in the same old ways too. We haven't adapted to the computer age yet, and it will probably be a long time before we do. Until then, 'Are we crashing or soaring?' is probably going to be a constant topic of debate.