Moving Towards a Digital Economy-the Beginning of the End

From Zero Hedge:

“Some online games have become the new opium to poison the growth of teenagers,”said Yu Xinwen, a vice president of Guangzhou University and delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) recently convened in Beijing. Ms. Yu is urging the Chinese government to a establish classification system for online games.

As robotics replace non-skilled workers and those unemployed workers spend their time playing games online, the digital economy is already replacing the industrial, just as the industrial economy replaced the agrarian at the beginning of the last century. Farmers gave up their acres of cropland and moved to cities in order to support themselves and their families. With robots and autonomous vehicles replacing non-skilled workers at major employers, many of the unemployed (mostly men) may have nothing better to do than play video games.

The Wall Street Journal opinion page pointed out that the recent imposition of a tariff on imported steel may very well help the steel industry, but it will be unlikely to increase employment for steelworkers. Referencing Bloomberg, the Journal presented the case of Voestalpine AG’s steel plant in Austria, which produces 500,000 tons of steel per year and employs 14 workers.  In the 1960’s, that same plant would have required 1000 steelworkers.

So why not let children play video games as much as they want. Perhaps children can see clearly where their world is heading and intend to get their first. Except for those few gifted or affluent, they may be developing the skills they will need to survive in the coming digital economy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-07/moving-towards-digital-economy-beginning-end