Axios Future shares insights from two prominent economists - Daron Acemoglu of MIT and Pascual Restrepo of Boston University - who argue that "automation has been the single biggest factor in America's widening income inequality over the past 40 years," a trend that is likely to continue as automation grows.
The report says that "the real wages of less educated workers have declined significantly over the past four decades: The real earnings of men who lack a high-school degree are 15% lower than they were in 1980.
"Over the same time, real wages for workers with a postgraduate degree — and to a much lesser extent, those with a bachelor's degree — rose sharply."
The report also says that the economists calculate "that 50-70% of changes in U.S. wages since 1980 can be accounted for by wage declines among workers who specialize in routine tasks in industries hit by rapid automation."
Which is an Eye-Opening perspective on a trend that seems likely to have an impact on any business that depends on being able to sell stuff to people who have money.
