Thomas Friedman: How Did the Robot End Up With My Job?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-did-the-robot-end-up-with-my-job.html?ref=thomaslfriedman

Friedman's main point in this article is that the high rate of unemployment in the U.S. today is not only the result of the current recession, but is also due to what he calls "The Great Inflection." By "inflection," he means that the number of workers needed for any one job is decreasing. The cause Friedman provides for "The Great Inflection" is the increasing interconnectedness of the world that has created a constantly growing pool of labor. Wider competition puts more people out of work, but unlike blue-collar jobs that have been outsourced in the past, the white-collar jobs that are put at risk because of wider competition are not being transferred to any one location. More interconnectedness allows the best workers and machines from all over the world to get jobs, while being average or even good, Friedman argues, is not enough anymore. However, new connectivity in the world also makes it much easier to create a new job, so Friedman concludes that the school system must teach and inspire students to be innovators or to make themselves stand out instead of settling for average or good enough.