The current explanation that job flight this response to improved technology races to questions for me.
Virtually every economics textbook I have seen dismisses the idea that new technology can destroy jobs. The most reputable counterargument came from David Ricardo in the 19th-century. Few economists have done much further. Supposedly, new technology lowers prices, which spurs new demand, which reemploy as the workers. I'm not saying I accept this argument, but I have not seen many economists eating crow. Secondly, I have no idea how you separate new technology from outsourcing. Until very recently, much of the spur to new technology came from the production of informational processing technologies, but much of the manufacturing, which certainly played a role in the reduction of costs, occurred offshore. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
