Automation actually improves the economy, tech insider says – New York Post

Robots really mean skyrocketing economic growth and higher-paid jobs, a new think-tank report reveals.

In a slap in the face to conventional wisdom, Robert Atkinson, president of the DC nonprofit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), and lead author of False Alarmism: Technological Disruption and the US Labor Market, 1850-2015, told The Post the US economy could dig itself out of economic malaise and quintuple US growth from the present anemic 1 percent or so.

And, he added, it could wipe out the almost $20 trillion in staggering federal debt at the same time.

The answer is in the steely embrace of anonymous robots and advanced automation, Atkinson said, explaining, Technology is the big fix.

Just how big? Every 1 percent increase in US productivity brings $50 billion extra to the federal treasury, according to Atkinsons calculations. By that measure, a 10 percent jump in productivity translates into a half-trillion dollars annually.

I agree with President Trump productivity growth is an important component of controlling our debt, Atkinson said. Yes, we are going to have to raise taxes; yes, we are going to have deal with entitlements. But it is an easier nut to swallow if you raise productivity through technology.

Tech-driven innovations have sadly eliminated major categories of jobs and disrupted societies throughout history, Atkinson said. In the 1960s, for example, the US economy lost 40 percent of its telephone operators. However, technology ultimately created many more jobs elsewhere at higher wages, thanks to streamlined activities and more goods and services at lower prices, the ITIF says.

In a doomsday study, the Bank of England estimates that 47 percent of all US jobs may well be replaced by technology in the coming 15 years, eliminating 80 million positions.

Contrary to the doomsayers, Atkinson said tech disruption has abruptly slowed, asserting that it is dismantling fewer jobs today than in any decade since World War II. People see Uber disrupting the taxi market, robots assembling cars and artificial intelligence reviewing legal documents, and they assume no occupation is safe, Atkinson said. But when you look, you find we are actually in a period of relative tranquility.

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Automation actually improves the economy, tech insider says - New York Post