461. How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse

Freakonomics Radio

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4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2021

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that newer collaborative robots (“cobots”) will totally reinvigorate how work gets done. That, at least, is what the economists are telling us. Should we believe them?

Transcript

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0:00.0	In our previous episode, we looked at the benefits and costs of one of the most contentious
0:08.7	economic policies around.
0:10.9	Just these really bare-knuckled arguments.
0:13.8	Bare-knuckled arguments about whether the U.S. should raise the federal minimum wage
0:17.9	to $15 an hour.
0:19.9	There is a constant back and forth where Democrats point to the fact that people simply cannot
0:26.8	live on the minimum wage and Republicans point out that all sorts of people will lose their
0:34.6	jobs because employers won't want to hire people at that higher wage.
0:39.5	Even economists don't know the right answer.
0:42.3	Well I think we know a lot actually.
0:45.5	We don't all agree.
0:47.1	After digging into the issue as deeply as we could, we reached a surprising conclusion.
0:52.5	Just like a big fight over what is really not that transformative of policy.
0:58.4	So a $15 wage is just not that transformative of policy, thanks for wasting our time
1:03.8	economists.
1:05.2	But this digging did lead us to something that may be truly transformative.
1:09.8	We are in our infancy of adopting certain robots.
1:14.2	So let's have that conversation about robot adoption and the labor markets.
1:19.5	We might as well start with an economist.
1:22.1	No, no, I'm not even a real economist.
1:25.7	I just play one at MIT.
1:27.5	It's David Otter.
	...

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