May 17, 2016
That is the impression that readers may take away from an article discussing the potential for self-driving trucks. The article notes that 3 million people work as truckers and warns of the risk that these people face from displacement due to this technology.
In fact, technology has always displaced workers from jobs. This is the basis for higher wages, as the remaining workers got the benefit of productivity growth in the form of higher wages. Higher wages allowed them to buy more goods and services, thereby creating new jobs that could be filled by the displaced workers. Alternatively, if hours per worker are reduced, then the gains in productivity can result in the same number of people being employed, with workers enjoying the benefits of productivity growth in more leisure.
This will not happen if the government pursues policies that keep workers from sharing in the benefits of productivity growth, for example by raising interest rates to reduce employment or if it pursues anti-union policies to undermine workers bargaining power. However, in these cases the problem is the policies, not the technology.
At a time when productivity growth has fallen to almost zero, workers should welcome technology that has the promise of substantial gains in productivity. Of course, they should also demand policies that will allow them to share in the gains.
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