While the continuing technology revolution will create benefits for the economy, it will put a damper on many Americans' employment prospects, says Larry Summers, a former economic adviser to President Obama.
"The economic challenge of the future will not be producing enough," he writes in
The Wall Street Journal. "It will be providing enough good jobs."
Technology has wiped away jobs in agriculture and manufacturing, notes Summers, now a Harvard professor.
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And the same will happen in the service sector, he maintains. "A generation from now, taxis will not have drivers. Checkout from any kind of retail establishment will be automatic."
Those who lose their jobs due to technological change can shift to other sectors. But this will be different than the agricultural revolution was, Summers notes.
"This time around, change will come faster and affect a much larger share of the economy. . . . There are more sectors losing jobs than creating jobs. And the general-purpose aspect of software technology means that even the industries and jobs that it creates are not forever," he explains
"The challenge for economic policy will increasingly be generating enough work for all who need work for income, purchasing power and dignity."
As for the short term, some economists were enthusiastic about last week's employment report, which showed a 288,000 increase in non-farm payrolls.
"The improvement in the labor market is accelerating," Robert Stein, deputy chief economist at First Trust Portfolios, tells
Bloomberg. "We're seeing a self-sustaining recovery, where production growth leads to job growth, which leads to consumption growth."
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