Thursday, March 21, 2019

Devalued Labor

We have been seeing a significant shift in economics in that labor is getting cheaper because the supply has increased.

This is not all labor, some skilled labor is still in short supply.

However unskilled or low skilled labor has become widely available as we have added foreign sources and automation.

So much labor that used to require people is now done via automation or robots.

This has led to an overall drop in wages for the unskilled who use to get good pay working in factories or warehouses.

There is a long list of jobs that used to exist and which are now either gone or much reduced.

The trend isn't new, but it has accelerated.

It also isn't finished.

So while we may be reporting low unemployment, it isn't creating the pressure on the economy it once did, since many of the jobs are low paying.

In many sci-fi movies and books, the machines end up taking over.  If you visit some of our more advanced factories, the future is now.

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