How technology could be destroying jobs | Hacker News Reader

How technology could be destroying jobs

I studied economics in college and I recently had a thought on how technological change could explain some of the current unemployment crisis and I want to hear your thoughts. Could some of the current unemployment be caused by the differences between the rate of technological change and the rate of people's ability to adapt to new technology? If the rate technology replaces jobs, is faster than the rate people can adapt to the new economic/technological landscape, could this explain a portion of unemployment?

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Technology doesn't "replace" jobs. It increases our productivity, meaning we can do more with less and sell better for cheaper. The net effect is positive.

That said, there is always a lag in how quickly society can adapt to new tech, which may result in unemployment temporarily above the natural rate. And during these times, people tend to hate on new technology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to see that technology does in fact replace jobs. Just 50 years ago, it required a team of 25 to 35 men with sledgehammer & shovel and a grader pulled by horses to create a country road or driveway -- and it took an entire week to complete the job. Today, that same task can be done in just a day or two by ONE individual with a bulldozer. One can spout lots of meaningless catch-phrases and convoluted explanations to attempt to prove otherwise, but it doesn't change the fact that innovation deletes jobs. Just think about it for a moment... If a bulldozer did not significantly reduce the time & cost of producing a road, then the bulldozer would have never been invented. There would have been no incentive for using one.

Many companies are reporting a shortage of skilled labor (mainly in the IT sector). How can this exist alongside 9% unemployment? It exists because the American workforce is not trained for the changing job landscape that has been brought about by technology. Technology supplants some jobs, whil e creating others, this is what economists call "creative destruction".

That is the core of the problem, yes. But, lots of luck to you if you get anyone in mainstream media or high academic standing to admit it -- let alone to talk about it or anything closely related.

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