New South Wales

 

Lunchtime Seminar: Are robots taking our jobs?

Date

From: Thursday September 28, 2017, 12:30 pm

To: Thursday September 28, 2017, 2:00 pm

What is the effect of computer-based technologies on employment in Australia?  This talk will argue that: (1) The total amount of work available in Australia has not decreased following the introduction of computers and automation; and (2) The pace of structural change and job turnover in the Australian labour market has not accelerated with the increasing application of computer-based technologies.  Furthermore, a review of recent studies that claim computer-based technologies may be about to cause widespread job destruction establishes several major flaws with these predictions.  An historical perspective that reveals fear of the consequences of technology for the labour market has been a recurring phenomenon. One suggested explanation for why techno-phobia has such a grip on popular imagination is a human bias to believe that ‘we live in special times’.

About the Speaker:

Jeff Borland is Truby Williams Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne. His main research interests are analysis of the operation of labour markets in Australia, program and policy evaluation and design, and Australian economic history. Jeff is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and in 2010 was the Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University. Jeff is currently President of the Victorian branch of the Economic Society of Australia.  Click here to read his monthly ‘Snapshot’ on the Australian labour market.

 

 

Bookings are now closed




Venue

RBA

65 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000


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