A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond

Abstract

Capitalism has always generated predictions of its demise. One common form such predictions take is the fear of an absence of sufficient work to go around. In an important new text, Daniel Susskind argues that revolutions in computational power are already bringing about such a condition, which will soon lead to a secular stagnation of employment. I argue that even if correct in its conclusions, Susskind’s argument doesn’t bear scrutiny – since it pays little attention to the critical dynamics shaping today’s global economy (globalisation, financialisation, and a slowdown in investment and productivity). Examining these factors carefully gives us a very different take on turbulent techno-economic change.