Benchmark
Robots Are Actually Helping People To Buy More Stuff
A new study shows the ripple effect that automation has on labor markets and consumption
1466573680_robot build
This article is for subscribers only.
It's not just about the labor that robots can save; it's also how much they can create.
Automation allows companies to reduce product costs, and, ultimately, lower prices, which means more people can afford to buy what's on sale, according to researchers Anna Salomons, Ulrich Zierahn, and Terry Gregory from Utrecht University and Germany’s ZEW Center.
Their joint study, published this week, finds that although machines did replace some human jobs in the European Union between 1999-2010, the boost in demand for goods ultimately caused the number of positions in other parts of the economy to rise at a faster rate.