"A "Wastage of Men
Technological Progress and Unemployment in the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4019883 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ester Fano (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 264 |
| Publication date | 1991-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Technology and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1353/tech.1991.0094 |
| OpenAlex | W4376543785 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
During the depression of the 1890s, cyclical instability of employment became an acknowledged phenomenon, but the long-term displacement of labor due to technological progress was not yet perceived to be a threat. As recovery from this long depression mitigated the unemployment problem, it appeared that the fluctuating pool of unemployed people would not grow from one downturn to the next-that invention, innovation, and the opening of new areas of economic activity would eventually reabsorb displaced workers. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, in contrast, the prevailing view differed: because of waning investment opportunities, unemployment would progressively grow. Productivity-enhancing and costsaving industrial innovations could only reduce employment and hinder recovery. If one compares perceptions of the effect of technological progress on long-term employment trends, a remarkable difference is evident. In the late 19th century, investment opportunities provided by population growth, the availability of frontier land, and new inventions seemed to provide a basis for the optimistic assumption that displaced labor would be reemployed. But this optimism had disappeared by the 1930s; in the environment of the Great Depression, labor displacement was regarded as part of the collapse, a contribution to the general problem, while technological innovation could not contribute to the solution
Demographic economics · Depression (economics) · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic recovery · Economics · Great Depression · Investment (military) · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Optimism · Political science · Politics · Productivity · Recession · Technological change · Unemployment · Economic Growth and Productivity · Economic Theory and Policy · Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues · Political Economy and Marxism · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2011 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |