## Robots, Growth & Inequality

_IMF Blog, September 7, 2016_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Robots, Growth & Inequality](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2016/09/07/robots-growth-inequality)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2016/09/07/robots-growth-inequality/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2016/09/07/robots-growth-inequality/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2016/09/07/robots-growth-inequality/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: iMFdirect
- Published: September 7, 2016

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### Context and publication
- Publication: iMFdirect blog post titled "Robots, Growth & Inequality"
- Date: September 7, 2016
- Format: Podcast interview with IMF economist Andy Berg
- Related work: Berg is coauthor of "Robots, Growth, and Inequality" published in the September 2016 edition of Finance & Development magazine.

### Core findings and framing from the interview
- Technological progress and robots can become near-perfect substitutes for human labor.
- When sufficiently productive capital (robots) is introduced, robots "take over."
- Productivity outcomes:
  - Productivity increases.
- Labor and distributional outcomes:
  - Wages fall.
  - Inequality rises because the owners of robots (capital) capture most of the income and do virtually all the consumption.
- Historical framing on technology and living standards:
  - "Now, the average American worker works 17 weeks to attain the same standard of living that a worker in 1915 would have had to work a year to get."

### Implications emphasized in the interview
- The spread of advanced robotics could generate broad gains in productivity but produce a "scary picture" on distribution, with capital owners benefiting disproportionately.
- Distributional consequences are central: rising inequality driven by capital ownership rather than labor income.

### Access
- The interview is available as a podcast (SoundCloud embed referenced in the original page).

*Source: IMF iMFdirect blog post "Robots, Growth & Inequality", September 7, 2016.*

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## References

- [podcast](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/SinglePodcastHighlight.aspx?podcastid=414)
- [Robots, Growth, and Inequality](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2016/09/berg.htm)
- [Finance & Development](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2016/09/index.htm)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2016/09/07/robots-growth-inequality_