Here's a good quote from book, p. 220, in the Q&A section:
[OBJECTION TO THESIS] If technology resulted in unemployment, everyone would already be out of a job because technological progress has been going on for hundreds of years.
[REBUTTAL] This really just amounts to saying “it hasn’t happened yet, so it will never happen.” History has proven time and again that, where technology is concerned, something can be impossible since the dawn of civilization and then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, become possible. Revolutionary technologies, such as the airplane and nuclear power, where all dismissed as being impossible even by preeminent scientists who were involved in the research that led to their development.
Today, most of us accept that technology will continue to advance and produce things that we might currently view as impossible. However, we still think too narrowly. We accept that there will be new technologies, new products and new industries, but most of us are not prepared to accept that all this will change the basic economic rules that we take for granted. But why wouldn’t that be the case? Is there a fundamental reason why accelerating technology should impact nearly every aspect of our lives -- but not impact the way the economy works?
- Jed
