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Business Daily: Is a Digital Revolution to Blame for US Job Losses?

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It's Technology, Stupid

01/11/2016 GMT

Is a Digital Revolution to Blame for US Job Losses?

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Is a Digital Revolution to Blame for US Job Losses?

Is technology rather than labour costs driving US jobs overseas?

US presidential contender Donald Trump says cheap labour costs in places like China and Mexico are driving American jobs overseas. But is there more at play?

Job losses and job creation have been big themes in the run-up to the US presidential polls. The Republican contender Donald Trump blames companies moving their production overseas to take advantage of low labour costs in places like Mexico and China. But Ryan Avent, senior editor and economics columnist at The Economist, argues it is more complicated than that in his book The Wealth of Humans. He tells us we are in the midst of a digital revolution that is as destabilising as the Industrial Revolution was in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Tim Macdonald provides an illustration in his report from the US factory floor. And, Will Grant reports on how globalisation has brought a new sight to the streets of the Cuban capital - foreign construction workers.

(Photo: Chinese aluminium workers, Credit: Getty Images)

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Is a Digital Revolution to Blame for US Job Losses?

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