Future of Work

Summary: In the Information Revolution, just as in the Industrial Revolution, machines are changing the workplace, making certain skills obsolete and leaving vast numbers of workers angry, frustrated and feeling powerless. In this, economist Jeremy Rifkin foresees a calamity of global proportions. He warns that underemployment will cut the income stream necessary to uphold the production/consumption ratio and the economy will collapse as it did before the Great Depression. Economic historian Stanley Hartt says the transition will be painful but there is no turning back. These theorists then explain what the future of work might look like.