Average annual growth in:

Average annual growth in:
Productivity slowdown
Pre-recession slowdown
Great productivity slowdown
Technology-led resurgence
Pre-recession deceleration
Great Recession and aftermath
And yet, the data indicate that today’s fear of robots is outpacing the actual advance of robots.
If automation were rapidly accelerating, labor productivity
and capital investment would also be surging as fewer workers and more technology did the work.
When automation on the farm resulted in the mass migration of Americans from rural to urban areas in the early decades of the 20th
century, agricultural states led the way in instituting universal public high school education to prepare for the future.
While breakthroughs could come at any time, the problem with automation isn’t robots; it’s politicians, who have failed for decades to support policies
that let workers share the wealth from technology-led growth.
Productivity and pay rose in tandem for decades after World War II, until labor and wage protections began to be eroded.