Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Rods2]

It is an interesting problem, which, as said will only grow as time marches on, I can see (I know some will disagree) that within 25(ish) years there will be few if any professional driving jobs, very few production/manufacturing jobs, not to mention a number of professional jobs falling by the wayside - I'm thinking accountants, payroll transactions, banking jobs etc etc.

Ultimately the way we tax companies will have to radically change if we want to continue to support the kind of society we have (or would like to have). Over the past 20-30yrs the percentage of companies gross profit that has gone to shareholders has steadily increased and the corresponding percentage going to employees has decreased, along with the number of employees too. This is one of the chief drivers of inequality and

One interesting solution, which I think has merit is the taxation of robots in businesses in a similar way to which we tax them for employees. The proceeds generated are then used to fund services. Ultimately I think we will end up moving to some kind of universal income model as jobs become fewer and further between.

We are going over to automation and robots because of our high-cost base and labour costs compared to much of the rest of the world, so if we tax robots they will also get all of the automated factories and offices as well! How is any UK wealth then going to be created?

Don't forget that 50% of our food has to be imported, so how is the money for that going to be found?

[Viral_Jim]

We are going over to automation and robots because of our high-cost base and labour costs compared to much of the rest of the world, so if we tax robots they will also get all of the automated factories and offices as well! How is any UK wealth then going to be created?

The same way it is now, through innovation and highly specialised/skilled manufacture and services. As a small country, with very few natural resources, we could never hope to compete in mass manufacture in any case, relying as we do on imports, we cannot operate on an isolationist agenda, at least not without sacrifices to living standards that would be unacceptable to the majority.

The problem isn't one of wealth creation, its one of wealth distribution. At the moment we are on a course where wealth is concentrated into assets (property, shares etc) and these assets are held by fewer and fewer people.

[Fraggles Rock]

And then you're into us all being a part of Uk/World Corp... homogonised and controlled as one... same food, same clothes, same number of licenced children...

I appreciate that alot of this is already true, but it isn't a big leap to see us being paid in credits and having everything given to us regardless of want or need.

Genuine population control won't be far behind.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Marxism by remote control. I hope I don't live to see it.