The recent recession, coupled with the persistently high rate of unemployment, tends to justify my theory of personal economic success for young people: If your living depends upon having a job, you are in trouble; if it depends upon the stock market, you are home free. I am basing that on the observation that those individuals who control the jobs market tend to be the same ones with a substantial investment in the stock market.
Now I do not mean to suggest that one should buy into every stock investment that comes down the pike. The usual investing rules apply: diversify, balance income versus growth, keep your eye on the long-term, etc. And of course, have at least a three month emergency fund available.
But to return to my original theory, as long as the government gives great tax breaks for investing in new equipment, research and development expenses, and other “productivity” investments, the ability to produce more products with less employees is going to continue to expand. And of course, greed at the upper levels of income also figures in to this equation. Computer-aided design, and in particular, computer-aided manufacturing are the watch-words of the day.
And this brings up a serious scenario: What if it progresses to the point where the employee becomes obsolete? While I doubt that the science-fiction vision in which everything is produced by machine will transpire, I can envision 50%-75% of consumer products being produced without human intervention.
In today's economy the distribution of resources to the end user is dependent to a large extent upon numerous individuals having jobs. But in tomorrow's world it is not unlikely that the jobless rate will be meaningless because most jobs will no longer exist. On what basis will resources be distributed?
Think about it.
Now I do not mean to suggest that one should buy into every stock investment that comes down the pike. The usual investing rules apply: diversify, balance income versus growth, keep your eye on the long-term, etc. And of course, have at least a three month emergency fund available.
But to return to my original theory, as long as the government gives great tax breaks for investing in new equipment, research and development expenses, and other “productivity” investments, the ability to produce more products with less employees is going to continue to expand. And of course, greed at the upper levels of income also figures in to this equation. Computer-aided design, and in particular, computer-aided manufacturing are the watch-words of the day.
And this brings up a serious scenario: What if it progresses to the point where the employee becomes obsolete? While I doubt that the science-fiction vision in which everything is produced by machine will transpire, I can envision 50%-75% of consumer products being produced without human intervention.
In today's economy the distribution of resources to the end user is dependent to a large extent upon numerous individuals having jobs. But in tomorrow's world it is not unlikely that the jobless rate will be meaningless because most jobs will no longer exist. On what basis will resources be distributed?
Think about it.
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My books, “There Are Only Seven Jokes” and “The Spirit Runs Through It” are available in paperback or Kindle at Amazon.
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