[mariusz79]

People tend to forget about one thing - in previous industrial revolutions jobs changed, but people were added and removed from the pool slowly and predictably. This time automatons not only take jobs from people, they are also in a sense added to the economy as additional workers.

Think about it this way - previously if someone came up with a more efficient way to do a given job, out of 10 people 9 lost employment, but you still needed that one person to do the job. With automation you get rid of 10 people, and add one additional "worker" to the pool of workers. So now 10 people have to compete not only with themselves but also with one robot that can do job of 10 people.

[cmurf]

I thoroughly expect anti-automation protectionism to emerge, akin to the H1B protectionist policy. https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/16/new-york-driver-groups-p...

[mariusz79]

it will be tried, but it's really impossible to implement. first reason - you can't force all countries to do the same. second - how do you define automation? will i need to pay taxes on scripts I use to automate some of my jobs? Will I need to pay automation tax on my roomba? or dishwasher? If the robot does not replace any worker, but makes job or current workers easier and faster will it be taxed?

[cmurf]

No different than how H1B's are implemented, you'll see a "no automated cars for hire" law, if necessary it'll happen city by city if the political will isn't there Federally. It will be a very specific proscription, likely very industry specific, because only a large number of impacted workers will have the political clout to establish such laws. And it might even be only city by city, rather than at a Federal level.

There are ways in which H1B is imperfect, doesn't work, and isn't fair. There will be ways in which making automated cars for hire illegal will be imperfect, doesn't work, and isn't fair. But those attributes haven't driven the former into the dustbin yet. If anything it's about to get stronger under the current political climate, so there's no reason to think the later won't be successful, at the least as a delay tactic so that automation isn't as disruptive as hypothesized.

Also, as a country establishes a more isolationist attitude, it matters less what the rest of the world does, and the rhetoric right now is distinctly a more isolationist attitude.