To tame the rise of the robots, buy them!

Frankfurt

"WORKERS of the world, buy robots!" If Karl Marx were alive today, would this be the rallying cry he'd offer to workers whose jobs are threatened by the spread of automation in factories and offices? Maybe not. But it would still be sensible advice, according to a recent study by UniCredit SpA economist Harm Bandholz. The report examines the impact robotics will have on economies and societies in the coming years, offering a somewhat surprising policy prescription: to mitigate the disruption wrought by technological progress, workers should increase ownership of the means of production - that is, the robots.

The picture the study paints is familiar: as more and more routine tasks get automated, many low- and middle-income jobs will be at risk while a minority of high-skilled people will reap the benefits of the pick-up in productivity via higher pay. This in turn will lead to an increase in inequality, with potentially devastating social effects.