The Automation-Unemployment Paradox, in one smart paragraph

Automation destroys specific jobs (displacement effect), but it also makes everything cheaper, raises real incomes, and boosts demand for new goods, services, and industries (productivity effect). Historically, the second effect has always dominated, creating more jobs overall than it eliminates—hence the paradox: machines keep replacing workers, yet long-term unemployment has not risen. The current AI wave looks faster and more disruptive, but the same economic logic holds: net job creation is likely, though with painful short-term dislocations, greater inequality, and a need for serious policy intervention.

Bottom line: automation is a job-killer and a job-creator at the same time—and history says the creator wins.

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