• AEA in the news
  • January 31, 2017

Robots and the impact on U.S. jobs

Robots like these are creating new jobs even as they replace many assembly line workers

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CNN cited a Journal of Economic Perspectives paper in a piece about the threat that workplace automation posed to American manufacturing jobs. In his 2015 paper, MIT professor David Autor found that automation spurred job creation and raised productivity even though it replaced some assembly line workers. CNN referred to studies by Autor and other economists for context in a story about President Trump’s assertions that international trade deals were threatening U.S. manufacturing jobs.