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The Great De-Coupling

There has recently been considerable discussion regarding the likelihood that large numbers of jobs will soon be destroyed by automation.  Machines are increasingly becoming like humans, and this is most vividly represented in the form of robots, artificial intelligence and driverless vehicles. 

The notion among some is that the owners of the machines will enjoy vast wealth, but that the middle class will continue to be displaced.  However, a more upbeat assessment suggests that these new technologies will increase worker productivity, thereby driving up incomes.  Economists Eric Bynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee from MIT don’t think so, and refer to the great decoupling. 

According to these economists, today’s advances in productivity, primarily driven by the development and refinement of digital technology and resulting economic growth, no longer cause employment and workers’ incomes to rise.  This Second Machine Age is playing out differently from the First. 

Other economists, like Robert Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation argue that productivity and employment were never coupled.  Falling middle class wages have little to do with productivity, but with rising income inequality.  

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.