In Defense of Robots

There was a time in America, not too long ago, when most people were full-throated advocates of technologically powered productivity growth, writes Rob Atkinson in National Review. Those days are gone, though. Current opinion now routinely echoes the mythical 19th-century machine destroyer Ned Ludd that technology is leading us to a world of mass unemployment, pointing to faulty studies to back up their assertions. If the elites really want to help low-wage workers, they can start by once again becoming full-throated advocates of technology-led automation and productivity growth, coupled with stricter limits on low-skilled immigration and better labor-market-adjustment policies for workers displaced by productivity improvements. That, rather than robophobia, will help everyone get ahead.