Reference no: EM133304966
Assignment:
1. How is productivity usually measured? What impact does technological change in the workplace have on productivity? What benefits have been generated by rising productivity levels? What costs are associated with the introduction of productivity-enhancing technologies?
2. What is the lump of labor fallacy? Why is it considered to be a fallacy?
3. Technological change generates both direct and indirect employment. Select an industry and identify a few jobs that have been directly created in recent years as a result of technological change. For the same industry, identify a few jobs that have been indirectly created in recent years as a result of technological change.
4. Although mass production lowered the number of workers needed to build a car, employment in the automobile industry increased along with the spread of mass-production technologies. Briefly, why and how did this happen? (think direct vs. indirect employment)
5. What is computer-aided design (CAD)? What can it do? What is computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)? What can it do? What is the next wave of computerization in manufacturing workplaces?
6. What is the service sector of the economy? How does the number of people employed in it today compare to the number employed in 1950s? What is the relevance of this sector to employment and technological change?
7. What does the history of the telephone reveal about the relationship between employment and technological change today?
8. How has recent technological change affected the distribution of income in recent years? Is technological change the only explanation for recent trends in income/wealth inequality? Explain.
9. What are some of the ways in which technological advances have contributed to globalization?
10. It can be said that technological change may eliminate jobs but not work. What is meant by this statement? Give examples.