Author Topic: Automation Culture  (Read 10044 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Michael Hardner

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12477
Re: Automation Culture
« Reply #120 on: July 17, 2017, 07:09:50 pm »
Not remotely comparable. You have to qualify for EI, which is self-funding, and welfare. A guaranteed basic income could simply be applied for. You can't be rejected because you don't feel like working and want to party. And when we combine this with the numbers of jobs likely to be eliminated by automation you're talking far greater numbers than welfare or EI, quite possibly a third of the population or eventually even half.

They aren't comparable in terms of qualification, you're right.  But I think you were asking how such a thing could be affordable.  These things were subsidized at the beginning, and are still a kind of tax.

Quote
You're assuming that the automation would save 100% of the cost of the jobs eliminated, which is just not going to happen. The machines are going to cost money to buy, or more likely finance, and money to operate and maintain. You'll be lucky if the cost savings amount to 30% over salaries.

Regardless - I am not arguing numbers.  I'm saying that generally if there is less work to do, the savings will be used to fund whatever comes next.  If the savings are 30%, which seems low to me, then we may not see a big impact from automation anyway, right ? 

Here's one article:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/self-driving-cars-endanger-millions-american-jobs-thats-okay/

4 million jobs eliminated plus $180 billion in other costs trends towards $400B to 500B per year savings in the US.   That equates to about $100K per job lost.  This is a back-of-the-envelope calculation, I'll admit.  But this isn't an argument, it's an exploration.  Come back at me with your thoughts.