Considering the advancements in technology, is it possible for the USA to have an economic collapse and another great depression?

Question

100 years ago based on the 1920 census the population was 51.4% urban defined, at the time, as incorporated places having a population of 2,500 inhabitants or more. The remaining 48.6% was rural. The farm population was 29.9% and 29% of gainfully employed males were in agricultural occupations. In 2019, 2% of male employment is in agricultural occupations. As a result of technology advances, in addition to many occupations being completely eliminated such as telephone and elevator operators, there are similar reductions in numerous other occupations. For example, a backhoe operator can dig more trenches than a dozen men using picks and shovels as was done 100 years ago. Already there are self-driving trucks. However, much of the trucking industry believes driving without a human on public roads is still years away because there is too much traffic and too many hazards at the start of a route and in the last miles. Nevertheless, as computer and robots become far more advanced as is expected in the twenty to forty years most human employment can be eliminated. Therefore, regardless of how many regulations and laws that greatly increases inefficiency, technology is advancing even faster.

exitseven · Accepted Answer

The thing that I am concerned about is that as technology becomes more and more advanced there will be many millions of people that will be put out of a job with really nothing to replace it with. Governments need to start planning for this today and not wait until there really is a depression.

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

Yes, it is always possible and this is because of something called a supply shock. When these happen, it can cause an economy to go a bit haywire for a while or even permanently shift.

Smoke-n-Growls · Answer

You're asking about two very different things.

Although arguably, the advancement of technology in the banking industries is directly what is leading to the incoming crash. Which is likely to be worse than the Great Depression.

Part of the reason the US economy is fucked is because technology and algorithms run so much of it, and capitalists profit off those without sharing the extracted value with their employees in an equitable way.

Rampant late stage capitalism, fervent corporate-aligned policies, and a lack of accountability all contribute as well.

Technology doesn't help when your entire economic system is literally built to fail. Capitalism is built for growth, and on a finite planet, it is doomed to encounter failure as it runs out of room to grow.

All the automation in the world wouldn't save the economy unless there was a way to secure things like a universal income, wealth taxation (because who owns these automated things? Who gets the profits? Not the working class who's been replaced.), and decoupling from capitalism's infinite growth.

At which point "the economy" would function so different from how it would in a capitalist society, your question becomes almost irrelevant. In a good way.

The capitalist economy is MADE to boom and bust. It's made to siphon money from bottom up. It's functioning as it's supposed to.

TallAnon · Answer

Oh yes, most definitely. Don't forget that wealth has always been present, but if the average person loses out tremendously, that's when we recognize it as a problem. Technology won't provide the poor and average with food and shelter, the rich would need to give way to allow this to happen. We all know the rich is still becoming richer. At some point the rich and the companies will own all the land. Why would they price it low? We are dependent on land to live on. So then when all our money is spent on overpriced neccessities and we have nothing left, even with multiple jobs.. How can we not call it a crisis.

Anonymous · Answer

Yes not only is it possible but it's extremely likely because of how integrated US production is with China, who is as people seem to have forgotten for a while a murderous communist regime and an enemy of freedom.

Brining self sufficiency back will be costly and painful. Quite likely a massive depression. Possibly a fracturing of the county into successor states.

Technology also doesn't equate to jobs or prosperity for the lower classes. For example, when cars were invented it didn't result in newer better jobs for horses. The same can be said for AI.

On the flip side it's entirely possible to backslide into a lower technolocal state, as seen during the very reminiscent fall of Rome.

dragoblack · Answer

Yes, but not due to technological advances. It will crash due to the people economy being neglected for over 60 years and the lie being pushed that if the buisness are doing well then economy is doing well. Businesses are only one part and the government has been neglecting the rest, because of profit and protection of those that cause the economic crises, by bailing them out but complaining and resisting doing anything to help the working people who are the support for keeping the buisness running.

Guy__ · Answer

What I know about farming is that government pays farmers to farm the destructive monocropping way, mostly GMOs sprayed full of chemical castration agents, hurting humans and the rest of nature. And they know it very well, and still do it because their goal is depopulation.

DWornock · Answer

Compared to 100 plus years ago, when using technology, I person does the work that took 20 people, another great depression is not possible regardless of all the interference by government. However, since it is backed by nothing but worthless promises, like all fiat currencies the dollar will fail. That will lead to a depression; just not as bad as the Great Depression.

007kingifrit · Answer

did we get rid of telephone operators? because every time i call any company i talk to someone and get put on hold. we have millions of telephone operators now!

I that's true for many professions, we got rid of one version of them and instead of having less of that job we just did that job everywhere more often. like those ditch diggers are gone but we are doing 10x as much construction.

someday they will take our jobs, and we will need a whole new economic model. but not yet

IsoUser · Answer

I believe that like the tech bubble collapse a few years ago we are practically already there. The only difference is that this bubble collapse in fossil fuels and technology interests may send us essentially into another Great Depression only this time much more damaging and permanent. In any event just my humble opinion

Guy13 · Answer

Yes but this time we have economically empowered our Enemies so that they can snatch the rest of stock market and possess controlling interest in USA 🇺🇸. This means at least 1 million Chinese.

Adaeva · Answer

When one person does more work than a dozen did 100 years ago, an economic collapse is not possible. However, we can have a minor depression.

driven159 · Answer

They will need repair people programmers' inspectors' people to make sure the robots are working correctly the more computers and robots the more people it will need to keep then going. As far as economy the world is too connected now so if we go so does the world you can have a recession but never have a depression, but it won't be a good time if the world economy went into recession

Anonymous · Answer

Absolutely, it's planned to be very soon

So the democrats can assume perminant power of the world so energy will be wiped out at a domestic level, asset ownership will be banned, your children will be toys for Biden and co., A social credit system will replace the currencies, meat will be banned excluding cannibalism

ohsheeT · Answer

All I have to say is you are one smart person and you are going to be an asset to your generation

FunkyMonkee · Answer

Hell yeah!! As long as Joe's at the helm!! Look for it to happen any day, now!!

tartaarsaus · Answer

It is possible. That said, we also understand economic policy much better and the main source of economic power these days is human capital, so it is much less probable that something like the Great Depression could happen.

Jamesshinobi · Answer

lol. its already in the worls, in the presemt, and by design. buy food, bullets, amd bitcoin. now or die mad about it

Whatever2929292 · Answer

When you see the leadership we are under right now...

888theGreat · Answer

with the retarded people running the country now? Yes and we will be in a depression by 2024

RuthlessAggression · Answer

We're scheduled for a recession, thanks to trump, but another great depression, is unlikely

Kingofkings1992 · Answer

It’s been a plan in the works for the past 2 years.

Considering the advancements in technology, is it possible for the USA to have an economic collapse and another great depression?

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