[illini123]

I'm curious to see if this only grows worse given the continued automation of industries like manufacturing that have traditionally been the backbone of the American middle class during the 20th century. Not so much that jobs won't be there, but they will require more advanced skills and less employees, thanks to "software eating the world."

Building the case for raising the minimum wage is an interesting one to be viewed objectively (not that it ever is), but I think it's also too early to tell with Seattle what the long-term outcomes are.

[alttab]

If capitalism works, it will solve that problem. In other industries there are talent shortages. Maybe markets will be created on making tools to raise the relative skillset of a displaced workforce?

[illini123]

One can hope, and I would sincerely like to think that new markets within manufacturing or other "old" industries are going to emerge. Off-shoring isn't the cheap solution it once was. Then again, I tend to be very critical of the belief that other industries have "shortages": http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem-crisis-i...