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Insight from the new book "The story of work" by Jan Lucassen. Work that never ends

The more things change, its turn out to be the same as it ever was. A new book about the history of work reveals that today’s workers have much in common with all those who have come before them over the past 12,000 years. People’s appetites drive them to produce more than they need, and they build political and economic institutions to help them do it. Then those institutions drive them to do more.

NYT ( see the story in the link) also talks about Gluttons for punishment. We work so much because we want so much. That was anthropologist James Suzman’s conclusion after studying hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert who satisfied their survival needs with roughly 15 hours of weekly labor. But modern, urban societies cause us to develop unlimited desires, which lead us to endless labour

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-james-suzman.html?cid=other-eml-onp-mip-mck&hlkid=38845d000b404e829c41b7395739f39a&hctky=9431270&hdpid=1b1a7d81-d82b-401d-8964-6c81c56a667a

What about algorithm and AI, while history tells us that in the long run technology is a net creator of jobs. But with artificial intelligence and automation’s rapid advances, could this time be different?

 

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Why it matters. Since 1960, productivity and employment in the US and in China tended to grow in tandem, demonstrating that even as technology made existing work more efficient, economies still added jobs. The advent of personal computing and the internet destroyed 3.5 million jobs since 1980 but led to the creation of 19 million new ones.

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Fast and furious. Every technological breakthrough has ignited a rocky process of job shedding, displacement, and creation. What may be different as the workforce adapts to artificial intelligence and advanced robotics is the short time frame in which such a radical transition will occur. Hence a new approach to education, programs to support displaced workers, and reskilling are essential to managing the brave new world of work.

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