The biggest job killer in USA (& elsewhere perhaps) is not China or Mexico but automation
Here is a reality-bite NYT article that argues that the biggest job killer in the USA (and some places elsewhere too, I am quite sure) is not China or Mexico but automation, "The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It’s Automation.", http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/upshot/the-long-term-jobs-killer-is-not-china-its-automation.html, Dec. 21st 2016.
It says that as automation is not a politically convenient villain like China or Mexico, no USA presidential candidate talked about it.
A small extract from the article, "Technology is not as convenient a villain as China or Mexico, there is no clear way to stop it, and many of the technology companies are in the United States and benefit the country in many ways."
It quotes a Harvard economics professor who studies labor and change brought in by technology, Lawrence Katz, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_F._Katz, http://scholar.harvard.edu/lkatz/biocv, as saying, "Over the long haul, clearly automation’s been much more important — it’s not even close".
The article states that the hardest hit by job losses which do not get replaced by equally paid jobs, are those doing manual labour jobs (who usually may not be having a college degree). It gives short accounts of two people in USA mid-West (rust belt) who lost their jobs to robots, and could not get decent replacement jobs.
Ravi: I am afraid the BRUTAL TRUTH seems to be that nobody in important decision making positions in countries like USA & the Western world in general, is seriously looking at these issues and how it could create havoc in labour-intensive communities in their countries. I don't think it is much different in India either, though I must say that trade union organizations in India have a lot of clout which is well respected by top political parties and politicians in India.
I certainly am NOT AGAINST technology (I am a former software technologist) but there needs to be some control over the disruption that new technology can create in communities where that new technology results in significant loss of well paid jobs.
It says that as automation is not a politically convenient villain like China or Mexico, no USA presidential candidate talked about it.
A small extract from the article, "Technology is not as convenient a villain as China or Mexico, there is no clear way to stop it, and many of the technology companies are in the United States and benefit the country in many ways."
It quotes a Harvard economics professor who studies labor and change brought in by technology, Lawrence Katz, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_F._Katz, http://scholar.harvard.edu/lkatz/biocv, as saying, "Over the long haul, clearly automation’s been much more important — it’s not even close".
The article states that the hardest hit by job losses which do not get replaced by equally paid jobs, are those doing manual labour jobs (who usually may not be having a college degree). It gives short accounts of two people in USA mid-West (rust belt) who lost their jobs to robots, and could not get decent replacement jobs.
Ravi: I am afraid the BRUTAL TRUTH seems to be that nobody in important decision making positions in countries like USA & the Western world in general, is seriously looking at these issues and how it could create havoc in labour-intensive communities in their countries. I don't think it is much different in India either, though I must say that trade union organizations in India have a lot of clout which is well respected by top political parties and politicians in India.
I certainly am NOT AGAINST technology (I am a former software technologist) but there needs to be some control over the disruption that new technology can create in communities where that new technology results in significant loss of well paid jobs.
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