Question

In Chapter 8 of his book, Osberg writes, “When robots can make the robots that can do most of our current jobs, the “Age of Abundance” will be technically possible. It will then be technically feasible for all people to enjoy a full material standard of living and also enjoy many more hours of leisure in which to develop the full potential of their unique personalities.”

While this sounds like the dawning of a utopia, what are the challenges such technological improvement will have on our ability to ensure equitable prosperity? Discuss.

Answer 1

When robots can make the robots that can do most of our current jobs, the age of abundance will be technically possible. While the age of abundance will be technically possible, the real question is whether the fruits of such abundance will flow to everyone equally or at all. Capitalism is already criticized, rightly or wrongly, for creating divides between the rich and the poor. Those have the ability to create capital derive incomes which are multiple times the incomes generated by those who only rely on their labour. This is because the returns on capital are higher, and also that by employing greater amount of capital the rich can enjoy the multiplier effect on their already high returns.

Production of robots that can make robots that can do most of our current jobs implies at least two things which are not good from the perspective of equitable prosperity. Firstly, it will be even more capital intensive than any of the industries today to produce such robots, which means that the profits from such robots will go to those who are already super rich. Secondly, if robots can make robots that can do most of our current jobs, then it will be harder for many people to get jobs than it is today. In other words, rates of unemployment will go up, depriving a large proportion of population of the income they get today. Both of these factors (any many more such) will lead to increase in inequalities.