It seems to me that unemployment is the elephant in the room that no politician has the nerve to mention. To do so would then require a massive rethink of how we do society, from the bottom up, including how wealth is distributed. Imagine that in an environment where just raising taxes four percentage points (only on the uber rich) causes a firestorm in the US.
As we become more efficient, we tend to need less workers. Of course, some here might point out that as some industries have dried up in terms of employment, new ones have been created, with new positions. I think it is arguable though that the tendency has been in one direction: away from masses of workers pouring into factories in the morning, and towards a few highly skilled specialists writing software, or doing similar tasks.
Globalization has transferred work from the developed world to the less developed, such as China and India. Yet even these countries are in a mortal struggle to provide enough jobs for their populations, enough at least to ward of civil discord.
Perhaps more significantly, digitalization has eliminated the need for masses of workers, in an increasing category of industries. What seemed outside the capability of software yesterday is increasingly on the drawing board for tomorrow.
What to do? Spain reportedly has a youth unemployment rate of about 50%. In some countries, the true extent of the problem can be masked by figures that don't include those hanging on with part time, poverty wages, or have dropped out, and are hanging on by the most precarious means. It seems unlikely we could roll back the tide of computerization and technological change, even if this was so desired. On the other hand, how long are millions of educated youth going to sit around on the dole, or perhaps not even have that, and watch life go by?
It's not that society, overall, isn't doing well. GDP has been going up, even in the EU. So wealth is there, but it seems to me the way we look at the whole business of work, and value produced in society, is going to need a complete reanalysis.
"....To articulate the core of his argument, McAfee draws from the concept of exponential growth patterns. The numbers at the beginning of any exponential curve (1+2+4+8+16 .etc) are easy to comprehend. It isnt until later in the progression that intuition breaks down and human imagination is outstripped by the explosive growth in the doubling pattern. With regards to the digitization of labor, McAfee argues that we may have just entered the knee of the curve; the portion of the growth pattern characterized by massive acceleration...."
Could Automation Lead to Chronic Unemployment? Andrew McAfee Sounds the Alarm - Forbes
Youth unemployment is a global crisis - The Globe and Mail
The U.S. Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Stumps Economists - Businessweek
As we become more efficient, we tend to need less workers. Of course, some here might point out that as some industries have dried up in terms of employment, new ones have been created, with new positions. I think it is arguable though that the tendency has been in one direction: away from masses of workers pouring into factories in the morning, and towards a few highly skilled specialists writing software, or doing similar tasks.
Globalization has transferred work from the developed world to the less developed, such as China and India. Yet even these countries are in a mortal struggle to provide enough jobs for their populations, enough at least to ward of civil discord.
Perhaps more significantly, digitalization has eliminated the need for masses of workers, in an increasing category of industries. What seemed outside the capability of software yesterday is increasingly on the drawing board for tomorrow.
What to do? Spain reportedly has a youth unemployment rate of about 50%. In some countries, the true extent of the problem can be masked by figures that don't include those hanging on with part time, poverty wages, or have dropped out, and are hanging on by the most precarious means. It seems unlikely we could roll back the tide of computerization and technological change, even if this was so desired. On the other hand, how long are millions of educated youth going to sit around on the dole, or perhaps not even have that, and watch life go by?
It's not that society, overall, isn't doing well. GDP has been going up, even in the EU. So wealth is there, but it seems to me the way we look at the whole business of work, and value produced in society, is going to need a complete reanalysis.
"....To articulate the core of his argument, McAfee draws from the concept of exponential growth patterns. The numbers at the beginning of any exponential curve (1+2+4+8+16 .etc) are easy to comprehend. It isnt until later in the progression that intuition breaks down and human imagination is outstripped by the explosive growth in the doubling pattern. With regards to the digitization of labor, McAfee argues that we may have just entered the knee of the curve; the portion of the growth pattern characterized by massive acceleration...."
Could Automation Lead to Chronic Unemployment? Andrew McAfee Sounds the Alarm - Forbes
Youth unemployment is a global crisis - The Globe and Mail
The U.S. Long-Term Unemployment Crisis Stumps Economists - Businessweek