A couple years ago I read an article regarding the destruction of jobs and the creation of new ones. Kodak had just filed for bankruptcy back then (I believe the did come out of it later though?) and at the same time instagram had done something big (IPO? Something like that). They article detailed how Kodak had 2000 employees when it was about to close, while instragram (some sort of "spiritual successor" that represents technology associated with pictures, as opposed to old school kodak which was about regular pictures) only had 200.
Basically the point of the article was how some naive, or hyper-optimistic or plain dishonest people argue that it's ok for certain technological advancements to wipe out existing jobs, since they're creating new ones, but in reality the newer jobs are less numerous and way more technical.
But back to self driving cars, I read somewhere else that each truck driver job supported around 7 other jobs. It makes sense to me, if you think about it, these guys use gas stations, truck stop restaurants, road side hotels, bars, etc, that nobody else uses, since they're driving across the country. That means people who pump gas, waitresses, cooks, hotel keepers, etc all depend on truck drivers stopping by. To that I'd add the fact that taxi drivers, limo drivers, personal drivers, etc, all make a living out of driving too. What's going to happen when all these millions of truck, cab, limo and black car drivers are out of a job?
That alarming thought may only be scratching the surface. A second degree or revenue loss is the fact thar regular gas stations, smaller mechanic shops (and maybe even places like Pep Boys and Jiffy Lube), car wash places, etc, all may be out of business once nobody truly owns a car and all we have is a fleet of land drones that act like Johnny Cab.
And a 3rd degree of revenue loss is the fact that DMV's would close (jobs! fees!). Traffic ticket revenue would disappear. Car personal property tax? Gone! Vehicle decal fee? Gone!
Sure, a couple jobs will be created, the kind of job some kid offshore will be doing while he programs an iPhone game on the side. That will not offset all of the above.... yeah I'm worried.Statistics: Posted by the_edge — Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:30 pm
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