On taxing the robots
Bill Gates, a pioneer in computer innovation, recently opened the gates to a debate that will become mainstream in the coming decades. He suggested that taxing robots would be a perfectly acceptable policy to defray the losses stemming from automation.His assumption is based on the correct fear that the advancements of high-tech industry threatens a large number of low to medium skilled jobs, of mostly equivalent income. This would lead to a high rate of unemployment in areas where automation may replace human labour. One wonders which sector is safe from the replacement of its labour force and the substitution of human capabilities. This is accompanied by reassurances of increased labour demand in the “caring sector” or other interpersonal service jobs. There is a growing need for caregivers for older people, people with special needs, helping children in education. It is logical to focus on areas that manifest increases in needs to reorient employment and then rely on innovation and automation to create wealth and increase productivity wherever possible, but there are some underlying assumptions which are left unchallenged, with regards to ease of reemployment, quality of remuneration and so on. More
