It's kind of ironic what i'm reading right now. I'm reading The end of Work by Jeremy Rifkin. Interesting book!
It looks at the impacts of automation and technology and how they destroy jobs. You can well andtruly see it today everywhere you look. The interesting thing, which he correctly notes is that the impatcs are largest in the service sector. Think about how many companies are moving to automated phone systems with their infuriating tree-like systems. If you want this press 1, if you want this press 2...
Having worked in a bank I remarked several times about how we were encouraged to tell people how they could not come into a bank and do their transactions online, or by phone. Essentially we were in the process of destroying our jobs.
There now seem to be increased levels of structural unemployment and this could have truly disastrous consequences.
The irony of course, is that I picked up this book, while on my to date unsuccessful search for a job. I hope this will turn around soon, but I really haven't had much luck so far.
1 comment:
It's certainly one of the most contradictory developments in the economy. Technology that should free us from boring, tedious work ends up throwing us out of work and pushing us into a crummy job (service sector) which then itself becomes obsolete due to technology.
I think the result is that more and more technology, machinery, automation - in other words investment - is put into reducing the amount of labour necessary to turn out a good service, but in the process it reduces the ability of people to consume thus undermining the ability of the owner to make the necessary returns on the capital he invested in the first place. Then you get the problem of underconsumption/overproduction which I believe are two sides of the same coin.
Being able to borrow against assets like a house or car, and buy on credit only delays the gap between the ability to consume and the level of production. It's very inefficient, if you ask me. Frankly, I think it is an absurd way to organize an economy.
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