David H. Autor is a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. David Dorn is an assistant professor of economics at the Center for Monetary and Financial Studies in Madrid. They have a great new piece in the NY Times outlining the role of technology in the great bifurcation of jobs around the world leading to a redefinition of the middle-class. The origins and destiny of technology displace jobs that can be automated. As machines become more intelligent with sensors and artificial intelligence, the two kinds of job remaining go to experts and laborers. The erosion of the mid-level competences continues to grow.
In this world with seemingly boundless horizons for technology development, we continue to be deviled by a tenuous relationship between denial and optimism. The greatest optimism resides in the future of personal service jobs.