Robbie the Robber: Automation and Pay – National Review

If automation has played its part in rising structural employment and, for that matter, rising underemployment too (it may be a subjective test, but it says something that, according to a 2016 PayScale survey nearly a half of American workers consider themselves underemployed), it is logical to assume that it will have had an effect on pay as well.

Enter the IMF (Bloomberg reports):

The advance of technology is the biggest reason workers are earning a shrinking slice of the income pie, according to a new study by the International Monetary Fund. Labors share of national income declined in 29 of the worlds 50 biggest economies between 1991 and 2014, the IMF said in a study released Monday.

Analysis suggests technology is the largest contributor to the change in labor shares in the large majority of countries, it said.

The IMFs finding is significant because economists have been debating whats to blame for decades of sluggish wage growth. President Donald Trump has blamed trade with countries such as China and Mexico for hurting American workers and hollowing out the nations manufacturing sector. The IMF study suggests technology is a bigger driver.

About half the decline in national labor shares can be traced to the impact of technology, according to the study, which is part of the World Economic Outlook. The full outlook, including the funds forecasts for global growth, will be released April 18 in Washington.

Predictions of the futureand the IMFs are no exceptionare notoriously fallible, but this report (at least as described) concerns what has already taken place. It is not too much of a stretch to think that the trends it highlights will continue.But it is a considerable stretch to work out what to do about them.

On a brighter note (until you stop to think about the implications, which are, incidentally, far worse for China than for the U.S.), click on this link to see an army of robots working in a Chinese warehouse. Its a remarkable, if somewhat disturbing, sight.

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Robbie the Robber: Automation and Pay - National Review