Question

What kind of economic base exists in your community? How many of the
jobs do you think fall into the categories of routine production services, in-
person services, and symbolic-analytic services? What might the economic
structure of your area mean for future job growth?

Answer 1

Ans)

Economic base concept

The concept of economic base is very important in the theory and practice of economic development. We think of the economic base as the engine that drives the economy of the community.

The economic base deals with how a community earns its living. It consists of that proportion of employment and income generated in a local community that determines the overall level of production. The growth, decline or stagnation of the local community rests upon the basic economic activity, which goes beyond local needs.

There are several measures of economic activity, but employment and income are the most commonly used in actual case studies. Information about employment and income values are the easiest to find at the county level.

employment and income in farming, agricultural services, forestry, fisheries, mining and manufacturing are basic, or export-oriented. The federal government, social security recipients, transfer payments and residents commuting to work outside the county also are considered totally basic because they bring outside money into the community.

Additional employment in food retailing may exist to supply food to residents living outside the local area. The level of employment in food retailing that exists to supply non-local residents is called basic. Food retailing can be a "mixed" economic sector.

In mixed sectors, employment or income in excess of local needs contributes to a community's economic base. One way to measure your local economic base is to compare, sector by sector, your community's employment and income with that of similar communities is the similar

Routine production services:

those repetitive tasks done over and over – "one step in a sequence of steps for producing finished products tradeable in world commerce", where people are paid by the number of hours worked, or the amount of work done

In-person services

jobs that Reich suggests are simple and repetitive too but the services must be provided person to person. He includes, among others, in this category restaurant serving staff, hotel workers, flight attendants, security guards, and physical therapists.

Symbolic-analytic services

are those that include "all the problem-solving, problem-identifying, and strategic brokering activities". Intriguingly he discusses how symbolic analysts trade in the "manipulation of symbols – data, words, oral and visual representations." He gives a long list of workers in this category – investment bankers, architectural consultants and systems analysts among them.

There is rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence, new research assesses the jobs lost and jobs gained under different scenarios through 2030.

The technology-driven world in which we live is a world filled with promise but also challenges. Cars that drive themselves, machines that read X-rays, and algorithms that respond to customer-service inquiries are all manifestations of powerful new forms of automation. Yet even as these technologies increase productivity and improve our lives, their use will substitute for some work activities humans currently perform—a development that has sparked much public concern.