ABSTRACT
A very important indirect consequence of automation will be felt in non-automated areas of industrial production. The original Industrial Revolution saw the substitution of machine power for human power. There are two old technological elements present in automation. The first is the use of power-driven equipment. The second is the use of mechanical or automatic transfer systems for moving work from one operating station to the succeeding one. Human operators will be replaced in work operations that are already mechanized. A very considerable change in work behavior can be anticipated as a consequence of the inevitable increase in the amount of “leisure on the job.” The potential for vastly increased output that automation promises requires a balancing increase in consumption. The general upgrading of the labor force that automation promises will raise average wage levels. The contrast between capital needs and consumer needs neatly poses the issue of wealth distribution in the economy.
