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Adam's avatar

Isn’t the manufacture of automated machines itself a job creator ceteris paribus?

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Paul O'Brien's avatar

Eh... Disagree, but only because you have to look at it macro-economically.

A few things have also happened:

1. People aren't unemployed but they're underemployed

2. While new jobs are created, there is a diminishing return, so in a short time frame it can appear that we're fine, over decades or centuries, we can see that far fewer people are working

3. Newer innovation comes on faster AND replaced far more (robotics and AI), the world can't catch up, and we probably don't need everyone working

The free market is the better course to follow to solve the challenge but we have to face facts, we need local craftsmen back, we need trades developed, and we really (already) only need to put in 4 day work weeks.

Government solving the problem by bailing out companies to retain jobs, or worse, just paying for more people (welfare) isn't sustainable nor even a solution, but technology absolutely eliminates jobs, and it's doing it faster and faster.

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