Donald Trump may be the president to give rise to the robot apocalypse.
Just kidding.
But one thing is for sure, and that is Trump believes that the United States has lost many of its jobs due to companies moving their businesses elsewhere. He believes that if the US can bring those jobs back, it can restore America back to the industrial powerhouse it once was in the 1900s. Surprisingly, his premise isn't wrong, as we can see how phone and car industries are moving away from the US to increase profits.
Companies flourish by following three simple things: increase production, reduce cost and increase the return of investment. So one can understand why a company would move someplace overseas, where the wages are lower, there are good product standards and there are trades agreements with the US. Of course, the company flourishes, but the people who once had those jobs don't.
These companies work on their own standards, and most car industrial companies make sure to reduce the cost of imports and selling to its consumers. Auto companies set up factories and plants in the places they want to sell to in order to make a profit. The main reason these companies create these plants where they do is to get the efficient capital they want.
If President Trump truly wants to "Make America Great Again" and bring back these industrial jobs, he has to realize that most of the companies that will come are those that can specialize in robotics and automation.
This is confusing – how will more jobs be created if all these jobs are given to robots? Well, someone has to tend to these robots, right? If we look at companies like Amazon, who automate most of their work already, they have acquired a robotics company called Kiva in hopes of more automation. Amazon still has to hire workers, but it is ensuring that it grows, and that is why it is thriving in the United States.
The Donald has to appeal to these companies by investing in more robotics and automation. Mark Cuban, entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, also agrees: "We have to face the fact that countries are going to lose jobs to robotics. The only question that needs to be answered is which country will create and own the best robotic technology and have the infrastructure to enable it." Cuban has pointed out that China spends $3 billion annually on robotics, whereas the United States only spends $100 million. If the US wants to be financially independent, it has to embrace the future of robotics, or else it would lead to a zombie apocalypse. As Paul Diggle has mentioned, "It [the United States] cannot realistically bring back the jobs that have gone. Doing so would create a new breed of zombie company, ticking over but with very thin margins." Other academics and industry leaders agree that Trump should allocate up to $100 billion to jumpstart the robotics industry and ensure that the United States stays the industry leader it is.
Looking backwards and admiring the past won't help us, because if we do, we won't get anywhere.
To read more about how Trump can keep jobs in the United States, check out the links below:
http://www.businessinsider.com/hard-to-trump-robot...
http://www.recode.net/2016/12/19/14013574/mark-cub...
