May 03, 2016

Yes! McKinsey, among others, because of the robotization of our economies, we do need "decent and worthy unemployments"

Sir, Martin Ford of writes that the impact of robotization “portends a social, economic and political disruption for which we are completely unprepared. Widespread unemployment (or even underemployment) has clear potential to tear society apart. It also carries substantial economic risks: in a world with far too few jobs, “who will have the income and confidence to purchase the products and services produced by the economy?” Where will demand come from?” “We are completely unprepared for the robot revolution” May 3.

That is precisely why in 2012 in an Op-Ed I wrote: “We need decent and worthy unemployments”. Sir, I have written several letters on you to this subject but, since you decided to censor me as effectively as the Maduro government of Venezuela has censored me, you ignored these.

And Ford also asks: “who will have the income and confidence to purchase the products and services produced by the economy?” Where will demand come from?”

On this I have also written several letters to you indicating that a Universal Basic Income, might be one way to resolve this, efficiently, while keeping the redistribution profiteers at bay.