Automation Causes Job Loss in China, Too (And That's Great For Human Wealth)

The (good, wealth-creating) properties of technological
improvement allowing us to do more with less are clear even in
faraway and mysterious China, even where labor costs are tiny
compared to those in the United States.

Details from Andrew McAfee’s blog:

 Even though hourly manufacturing labor costs in China are
only
4% of those in the US, it’s still attractive for Chinese
factories to replace people with technology over time. This allows
them to turn out more stuff with fewer people. How much more, and
how many fewer?….

China’s manufacturing output was over 70% greater in 2008 than
it was in 1996. Over the same period, manufacturing employment in
the country declined by more than 25%.

Obviously, this is not because of outsourcing (companies
outsource to China, not from China). It’s because technology is now
so cheap, useful, and universally available that when more and more
Chinese companies upgrade an old factory or build a new one, they
don’t fill it up with cheap labor. They fill it up with hardware
and software, just like we do in the US.

Reason on outsourcing and
China.

2012-09-12 00:34:36

Source: http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/11/automation-causes-job-loss-in-china-too