Introduction Over the past hundred years and more, technological change has been a constant factor in economic health and unemployment rates. Technology comes in many forms, but its main drive is to increase efficiency and output in the economy. If a machine can do a job faster or better than a human, what happens to human resources in an economy? It is important first to examine the terms being used, and then to analyze the relationship that technology and unemployment have. Once an understanding is built, government and economists’ preference for technological advances will be easy to comprehend.
The Interaction of Technological Change and Structural Unemployment
Technological change is a broad concept and encompasses the varied and constant advances being made in the fields of machinery. Advances in the 20th century were extremely varied, and included airplanes, atomic energy, cell phones and the internet (History of Technology, n.d.). To simplify the discussion, technological change produces increased efficiency in certain areas, often eliminating jobs. Advanced farm equipment means that people are no longer required to hand pick food from the fields. A backhoe can clear a construction area in minutes, as opposed to the hours it would take several workers to complete the same task. Telecommunications advances mean that someone in Tokyo can speak with someone in Shanghai, New York, and India simultaneously, superseding unreliable mail services, decreasing jobs. There is