Because this is the exact opposite of what has happened in every other period of technological advance in history. As productivity goes up, the cost of production drops, and products become more affordable. As goods become more affordable, people spend less money on "things' and more money on services, and human employment will move to where people have a comparative advantage over machines.
You mean the "pension funds" that will no longer be needed once we have a robotic workforce?
Anyway, the average American has very nearly zero dollars in pension funds. And how is that corporate stock that's in pension funds going to go up when consumers can no longer afford to buy the company's products?
Well said, but you missed a big one: Goods that are imported are taxed at a much higher rate than materials that are imported. If we can make the same product with the same robots and not need to both ship and get import taxed on the final product, it likely makes it really cheap. And that is even if we still have to import the raw materials in bulk.
Who's going to buy those goods, given a robot workforce?
1. Lower shipping costs 2. National security 3. A major expense in manufacturing is energy. Energy prices for electricity and gas are much lower in America than in East Asia.
So, it's a good deal for the corporation, but not for anyone else. Don't make the mistake of thinking prices go down just because input costs do. That doesn't work any more.
Yeah, I was wondering that. Surely if robots are cheaper manufacturing can be brought back home now?
If robots are doing the jobs, why would you want manufacturing to come back home? What good is having a factory where there are no jobs, owned by a company that is incorporated in a tax haven?
See, this is the thing: Robots are cheaper than ANY labor. That's why anyone who tells you that a higher minimum wage is going to force companies to automate are just full of shit. The industrial revolution taught us that corporations will automate when the wage is 25 cents a day. If a company will bring in a machine to a fast restaurant to replace a $15/hr worker, they'll do it to replace a $7/hr worker too.
The problem is, there just won't be anyone left to buy the product unless government changes food stamp rules to allow them to be used at McDonalds.
We're dangerously close to creating a "breakaway civilization". And that means that even you computer science bro code monkeys and tech support weenies out there are well and truly fucked. Because you are not invited.
I got a letter about my Fit. Honda told me to not drive with passengers.
Listen friend, do you think you could drive my mother-in-law to the grocery store on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays? There's a case of whiskey in it for you.
The researchers gave 6 men and two women a new pair of socks. They asked the volunteers to wash their feet with tap water and dry them before wearing the socks for at least 10 hours in a specified type of shoe. They then put each sock into a separate sample bag and stored them in the dark overnight. The researchers graded each sock and t-shirt on a scale of 0 (no malodor) to 10 (malodorous) by smelling them.
You can't tell me that the grad student research assistants who conducted this experiment aren't some of the most dedicated and courageous people on the planet. The unsung heroes of science.
I think Apple is inexorably moving toward products so thin that they can not be seen or used at all. This will be considered the height of elegance. Hipsters and women who don't shave their armpits will line up to buy them.
I'm a white male. I am not allowed to tell a black woman that she's wrong.
Allowed?
Just recently I discovered a masterpiece of a video where I was told that even THINKING that I could possibly be right when disagreeing with said black woman is already a no-go.
And I found a video where I was told the moon is a hologram. I did not immediately jump to, "THE MOON IS A HOLOGRAM!"
You sound a little paranoid, friend. So let me set your mind at ease: You think whatever you want, OK? If an SJW comes up to you on the street and tells you that you are not allowed to think something, you tell them I said it was OK.
Slashdot Mirror
Tried that. Depending on which group you were in, it didn't work out so well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
When was the last time you saw one in the checkout line at the Piggly Wiggly?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_value_problem
So, we're going to jettison everything South of the Mason-Dixon?
How is a consumer economy supposed to work given a robotic workforce?
You better be prepared to have a much larger welfare state.
You mean the "pension funds" that will no longer be needed once we have a robotic workforce?
Anyway, the average American has very nearly zero dollars in pension funds. And how is that corporate stock that's in pension funds going to go up when consumers can no longer afford to buy the company's products?
It takes a big government with guns to enforce libel laws, so yes. They are the opposite of libertarian.
Libel laws are the opposite of libertarian.
It's the way of the world now
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/J...
Trump 2016
Depends on the value of "you".
Also, robots make very poor consumers.
Who's going to buy those goods, given a robot workforce?
So, it's a good deal for the corporation, but not for anyone else. Don't make the mistake of thinking prices go down just because input costs do. That doesn't work any more.
My point is that there isn't a good reason to bring back manufacturing if there aren't going to be any jobs coming with it.
If robots are doing the jobs, why would you want manufacturing to come back home? What good is having a factory where there are no jobs, owned by a company that is incorporated in a tax haven?
See, this is the thing: Robots are cheaper than ANY labor. That's why anyone who tells you that a higher minimum wage is going to force companies to automate are just full of shit. The industrial revolution taught us that corporations will automate when the wage is 25 cents a day. If a company will bring in a machine to a fast restaurant to replace a $15/hr worker, they'll do it to replace a $7/hr worker too.
The problem is, there just won't be anyone left to buy the product unless government changes food stamp rules to allow them to be used at McDonalds.
We're dangerously close to creating a "breakaway civilization". And that means that even you computer science bro code monkeys and tech support weenies out there are well and truly fucked. Because you are not invited.
You really haven't thought this thing through.
Listen friend, do you think you could drive my mother-in-law to the grocery store on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays? There's a case of whiskey in it for you.
I'm elderly and my password is so strong that I forget it in 2009 and haven't been able to log in to anything since.
So you're saying the moon IS a hologram?
You can't tell me that the grad student research assistants who conducted this experiment aren't some of the most dedicated and courageous people on the planet. The unsung heroes of science.
I think Apple is inexorably moving toward products so thin that they can not be seen or used at all. This will be considered the height of elegance. Hipsters and women who don't shave their armpits will line up to buy them.
Allowed?
And I found a video where I was told the moon is a hologram. I did not immediately jump to, "THE MOON IS A HOLOGRAM!"
You sound a little paranoid, friend. So let me set your mind at ease: You think whatever you want, OK? If an SJW comes up to you on the street and tells you that you are not allowed to think something, you tell them I said it was OK.
Is someone telling you what you're allowed to think?
But do you cut the gamer cheese?