It would be a mistake to think that automation is a first-world affliction only. As the cost of robots decrease, they will replace workers in the third world also. (See my Social Contract article on this topic: How Automation Threatens Third World Stability .)

The video below produced by the VOA News observes, the automation-caused “loss of livelihoods could have far-reaching repercussions including the mass migration of displaced workers.” Third-world nations don’t have unemployment insurance and welfare programs to cushion unemployment, so millions may head for the generous first world to see what freebies they can get.

World Bank President Jim Kim says the time to act is now: “And so for every country in the world, we have to think very seriously about what are the investments we need to make right now in order to prepare ourselves for the economy the future.”

The World Bank is not my favorite institution, but Kim’s admonition to start planning now is a pleasant contrast to Washington’s total denial regarding the issue, particularly the recent blunder of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin when he remarked that the automation threat to jobs was 50 to 100 years in the future.

It’s particularly disturbing that the government’s immigration import program continues on auto-pilot when the actual need for immigrant workers is getting close to Zero. Even the RAISE Act (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) proposed by Senators Cotton and Purdue cuts legal immigration by only 50 percent over a decade.

The world of work is at the beginning of a revolution, and Washington is still playing according to 20th century rules.

And will the government protect the citizens from millions of economic “refugees” flooding across the border in an automation-fueled Camp of the Saints?