Excellent post. This is an issue I've pondered a lot. Most of the jobs lost in the first few rounds of computerization and automation were replaced by service jobs. A lot were high end like medicine or education, but most were low end. High paying manufacturing jobs were replaced by burger flipping. In Japan they are experimenting with replacing these service jobs with robots. What happens here when robots are cheaper than minimum wage plus benefits? Do we have permanent 40% unemployment? Legislated 25-30 hour workweeks? A permanent crash in housing prices because no-one can afford them?
I think history shows that we will have a structural realignment of our society. For better or worse, California will be at the front of it.
I think history shows that we will have a structural realignment of our society. For better or worse, California will be at the front of it.