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Kiwi analyst Michael Parker on why robots and modern China are ruining Adam Smith's Wealth of Natio
The Interest ^ | December 5, 2016 | Gareth Vaughan

Posted on 12/04/2016 11:44:08 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Chinese robots appear to be bringing to an end a path of "serial industrialisation" across Asia that has run for 60-odd years, says Hong Kong-based Bernstein analyst and ex-pat Kiwi Michael Parker.

In a research note entitled Adam Smith vs Chinese Robots...The end of The Wealth of Nations, in one chart (not ours), Parker points out that instead of shedding low cost manufacturing as it develops, China is getting rid of the workers but not the work.

Parker notes that Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, remained broadly relevant to capital allocation decisions globally for 240 years. Basically, if an individual, company, or country has an advantage in producing something, then the individual, company or country should specialise in producing that one thing, and trade for everything else. But, Parker, says, in recent years this concept has run into two forces that Smith could not have contemplated, being robots and modern China....

(Excerpt) Read more at interest.co.nz ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: automation; china; robots; trump
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To: nathanbedford

Well said and worth rereading. If the people who are going to have their lives disrupted are the globalists and their lap dogs, good. There is nothing but endless serfdom in a post nationalist world.


21 posted on 12/05/2016 5:12:59 AM PST by freedomfiter2 (Lex rex)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Its not difficult to analyze what public policies would lead a company to prefer operating in China versus the US, and then adjust those policies.

Automation takes labor costs out of the equation, which leave other issues, taxes, regulation, red tape, physical security, financial security, financial flexibility, privacy, freedom. On those issues, if we are not superior to Mexico or China, then thats where we need to focus.


22 posted on 12/05/2016 5:18:55 AM PST by marron
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To: ari-freedom

I’d like to see tech colleges get onto teaching dedicated robotics.


23 posted on 12/05/2016 5:48:51 AM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Later


24 posted on 12/05/2016 5:50:58 AM PST by gaijin
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The same concerns were manifested by the weavers in another century as machines appeared to be replacing workers.


25 posted on 12/05/2016 6:09:43 AM PST by arthurus (Mrs Clinton is The Great Conniver.)
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To: roadcat

Our country has North European and especially Judaeo-Christian roots and it has the English language. These characteristics are highly conducive to liberty and innovative thinking and invention. So long as we do not force ourselves into a non-Christian mold and lose our English language and overrun our land with third worlders, we will remain the fount of innovation and thus rich. Other peoples are arguably smarter (IQ levels, anyway), East Asians, for instance, but they are not so innovative. Japan or Korea is really good at refining to the utmost American inventions but don’t invent much. Jews are smarter and at even more innovative but they really qualify as effectively having the same set of characteristics. They are part of our own Society, even in a separate state.


26 posted on 12/05/2016 6:18:27 AM PST by arthurus (Mrs Clinton is The Great Conniver.)
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To: Trumpet 1

It is interesting workers are willing to give up their jobs to robots. Rage against the machine is certainly a future possibility.


27 posted on 12/05/2016 6:20:24 AM PST by Demanwideplan
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To: Trumpet 1

In a static view, the proliferation of roots will put the population out of work. That would be the end of society. However, as with the 19th century Industrial Revolution, it will simply free up more minds to create more and different sorts of businesses and more efficient ways of getting things done, ergo we all get richer. In a non ideal world, where great swathes of the population are kept from working at all by bribery and coercion that may not happen or only happen partially.


28 posted on 12/05/2016 6:21:52 AM PST by arthurus (Mrs Clinton is The Great Conniver.)
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To: nathanbedford

Bookmark.

Another fantastic post nathan.


29 posted on 12/05/2016 6:22:34 AM PST by Eurotwit (T)
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To: RegulatorCountry
Ideally the nation would abjure all forms of government "welfare" and of regulation of commerce and would remove taxation of commerce altogether unless the income tax were to be dropped and replaced with a uniform tariff for revenue. Prosperity would explode and cement America as The Great Power nonpareil. Ideally.
30 posted on 12/05/2016 6:27:44 AM PST by arthurus (Mrs Clinton is The Great Conniver.)
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To: ari-freedom
We need to be the #1 robot nation.

Americans are creating things like robots. But not all Americans. Visit a MakerBot show and you'll see hundreds if not thousands of American youth involved in it. Same goes for TechShop, lots of youth creating stuff. However, it isn't the mindless youths who protest and trash streets, or ghetto kids who lazily hang around listening to rap all day. Our educational system isn't creating the creators; it's parental guidance that is creating our creators. Hopefully we can change our educational system to get other kids up to speed. If not, we still have creative talent out there thanks to good parents. When I've been at TechShop, I don't see hardly any black youth, mainly white and Asian. Same goes for MakerBot shows, which are a lot of fun. If you have older kids, get them to a show to rev up their interest in electronics and creative design.

31 posted on 12/05/2016 10:34:42 AM PST by roadcat
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To: corkoman
A teen can make some money flipping burgers but will make great money keeping the flipping robot running smoothly.

There are a lot more jobs than you think in regards to robots. Think engineering of how to get them to do what is needed. Engineering of components, and testing. Technical writing to describe their functions. Better ways to create joints and muscles, and how to miniature them. Then there are the electronics and portable power systems. The physical looks. And the AI software and communications. Tons of jobs available in regards to robots, and we aren't even talking about maintaining them running. Plus someone has to design and manufacture the pilot components. I've spent time watching my son-in-law design and repeatedly manufacture metal components on large CNC machines before settling on a design and sending it off to manufacturers. This stuff is done by humans, humans that don't need to flip burgers.

32 posted on 12/05/2016 10:44:46 AM PST by roadcat
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To: ari-freedom
That means Americans need an educational system that gives them the ability to create things like robots instead of being stuck in jobs that will be replaced by them, eventually.

Low IQ people put into any education system means low IQ people out no matter how much investment is made. The world increasingly has an oversupply of stupid people, in other words: human pets. However eventually there will even be an oversupply of high IQ people as super computers exceed human capabilities.

33 posted on 12/05/2016 10:46:03 AM PST by Reeses (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a government pat down.)
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To: roadcat

On a related note, I’ve been looking at truck wheels, nice ones. Found several US specialty manufacturers, one in particular in Miami has impressed me. They have their catalogue of designs, sizes and finishes but they’re all actually custom, manufactured to order via CAD and CNC. Company name is American Force, here are a few videos and a link to their website:

http://americanforcewheels.com/en/technology

https://youtu.be/MSMdqbmqChU

https://youtu.be/loxNqOpZLq0 (@1:53, woof, lol!)

The hope for employment resides in specialty manufacturing in limited quantity, meaning an explosion of surprising, innovative, high quality goods. This doesn’t benefit the poor unless they’re being employed, though. Custom manufactured goods are not cheap.


34 posted on 12/05/2016 10:58:44 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry
Custom manufactured goods are not cheap.

You got that right. There's a lot of R&D that goes into custom stuff. This is where Americans excel, whereas the Chinese do a lot of copying. Son-in-law spends a lot of money renting time on CNC and powder-coating, then assembling products and programming them, invents his own electronics and software. He creates custom electronic music components for bands around the world. Stuff that the Chinese can't do. Self taught.

35 posted on 12/05/2016 12:19:57 PM PST by roadcat
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To: roadcat

That’ll be the salvation of working class people with at least some skill in a trade. Robotics aren’t warranted below a certain volume threshold, the dollars don’t add up. Robots aren’t creative, the can’t see a need let alone create something that is an entirely new niche. These tools, CAD, CNC lasers and lathes, at the hands of someone with aptitude and vision will employ tens or maybe hundreds. Scattered across the country, it adds up.


36 posted on 12/05/2016 12:23:17 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry
That’ll be the salvation of working class people with at least some skill in a trade.

I encourage young people to pick up skills in trades. Son-in-law's parents encouraged that in their kids, all five grown up now are successful and self-employed. Their daughter became a contractor and built their home for the parents. My daughter worked alongside me in building tool sheds and such, then got a job in college repairing dorms between terms. She remodeled her husband's house, better than him at construction. As for me, I got jobs as a teen working with machine tools. Useful even though I later worked primarily in IT, and am now retired doing carpentry as a hobby. Everyone needs a skill to fall back on, if necessary. Friend of mine was a nurse, but doing machine work as a hobby. He began making replacement components for old classic cars and now owns a big machine shop. Robots can't fix plumbing, do home remodeling, or set up machine equipment for a job. No reason for a teen to only think of selling french fries.

37 posted on 12/05/2016 1:42:30 PM PST by roadcat
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To: roadcat
replacement components for old classic cars

Tremendous business with not just that but retrofits and resto-mods using improvements with modern tech for the old classics. If it's a pristine survivor, by all means keep it OEM and dead stock, but a lot of them aren't pristine, they've verging on the scrap yard. Have at it with those, resurrect them with modern systems and conveniences. Way more interesting than most modern cars, add modern safety, performance and conveniences and you've got a real winner, rolling art that's a practical daily driver.

38 posted on 12/05/2016 1:52:15 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

bkmk


39 posted on 12/08/2016 8:44:08 AM PST by AllAmericanGirl44 (If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.)
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