[scrollaway]

> Automation like this is why I call BS on the "we need more immigrants to keep the economy going!" folks.

This is a bit of a shortcut (and most don't realize it) to "more people doesn't necessarily mean less jobs to go around, as available work is not a finite product because of the amount of artificial demand an increased population can create".

We don't need more human drones; when properly funneled, increased immigration can mean a better economy.

[compostor42]

> We don't need more human drones; when properly funneled, increased immigration can mean a better economy.

Agreed. Importing millions of unskilled laborers is insane as automation picks up. Those jobs will be made redundant in short order. (They probably already would have been, but a massive pool of cheap labor meant little incentive for automation. Similar to the first steam-engines being unused by the ancient Greek ruling class http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/HeroAndLoon.htm)

Bringing in the select best and brightest from other countries is certainly wise though.

[scrollaway]

Or bringing in more, and training people better. But this applies to the entire population through a better education system of course...

[compostor42]

But as I stated regarding my point about automation, we don't need more people, we need less.

We already spend more than any other country per pupil. Many of the "broken" school systems have received massive influxes of cash (billions) and seen no improvement what so ever. Schools can only go so far it seems.

2 Billion spent in Kansas City to fix the schools. No appreciable result. I'm not convinced in the panacea of education. Something else is at work. The by country PISA scores are quite interesting.