, Columnist
Robots Won't Own You. You'll Own the Robot.
What if the rise of the machines brings on a revolution in corporate ownership?
Great co-workers.
Photographer: Martin Leissl/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The robots are not taking our jobs. Yet.
There are few if any signs of this occurring. If robots were replacing us, we’d see significant increases in productivity, but productivity growth is slow everywhere in the world right now. If a mass replacement of humans by machines were happening it would probably cause a large investment boom. Instead, we're seeing an investment drought in rich countries, as companies sit on cash. In addition, there is little evidence that capital-labor substitutability -- the economics term for employers’ ability to replace humans with machines -- is increasing.