Maybe robots don’t cause less or lower paying jobs as Noah Smith thinks or hopes, but it’s still important to combine technologocal development with the state funding a push for full employment. Historically, where there has been a lack of workers, technology has boomed. The ancient Romans and Greek had technology for steam engines and railroads but used this only as cheap toys or for doors opening automatically to make the emperor seem divine. The reason argued in antiquity was that the slaves back then were so cheap and should have something to work with.
Read Oskar Brandt’s article here.
Further reading:
- LinkedIn, State deficits, equality, welfare, and progressive taxation (In collaboration with ChatGPT), 2023-02-06
- LinkedIn, ”The importance of a radically potent but comfortable climate strategy”, 2019-05-18,
- Internation Committe of the Red Cross, ”What you need to know about autonomus weapons”
- Smith, Noah on Substack, ”Book review: ”Power and Progress””, 2024-02-21