Economics: More Robots, Please

(Drivebycuriosity) -   There is a lot ado about rising inflation. Prices are climbing faster because there is a strong demand for goods & services which meets a scarce supply. The reopening of the economy and the massive government stimulus programs are pushing the demand but companies have problems to comply with the rising demand. Many business owners complain that they don´t find enough workers, even when they hike salaries. According to Yahoo “small business owners are struggling at record levels trying to get workers back in open positions,” The quote NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg who declared “owners are offering higher wages to try to remedy the labor shortage problem. Ultimately, higher labor costs are being passed on to customers in higher selling prices.” (finance.yahoo ).

Therefore we need more robots, machines which produce things that people don`t anymore - or not enough. Robots wouldn´t fill the gap immediately, of course, someone has to produce them. But if the scarcity of labor continues, machines would be a great help. 

Machines, including computers, have been substituting labor for a long time. There is a continuing process of automation since the 19th century at least. Even farmers are using more and more robots, for instance for harvesting strawberries or milking cows (wikipedia). These machines are reducing the costs of producing something significantly, making things cheaper and more affordable. Hence robots are raising the living standard of everybody.

Robots also are the answer to another trend - the rising life expectancy. People live longer, so the number of the retired is growing, but the number of people in working age is growing slower or even shrinking. Robots can fill this gap in many cases.

Robots deal also with another problem: Many jobs are dangerous and dirty. Using more machines in unhealthy environments, like mines or radioactive settings, saves lives. Machines don`t get sick and they can continue to work - supporting us with necessary goods & services -  even in a pandemic.

More robots please!