Keywords
Technology
Employment
Inequality
How to Cite
Abstract
This article develops a critical assessment of the literature correlating the technological advances of Industry 4.0 to worsening conditions in unemployment and wage inequality. Some of the limits and inconsistencies of this literature are highlighted, particularly its inadequacy to explain contemporary movements of manufacturing and its social consequences. We then argue that an analysis based on post-Keynesian political economy seems more appropriate to studying the topic, since it underlines the importance of effective demand and political and international contexts in the determination of employment and wages. The article concludes by rejecting the mainstream hypothesis that correlates unemployment and/or inequality with technological progress.
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Copyright (c) 2021 Rafael Palma Mungioli, Gabriel Marino Daudt, Luiz Daniel Willcox
