Robots on an Assembly Line...

Mercedes A Class Production Line

You'll notice, not a lot of human workers. When you see this, you might think -- "Aha! It's not foreigners who have taken our jobs, but robots." However, increases in productivity are not a new development for US manufacturing. In fact, labor productivity growth has been slower than usual for the median manufacturing sector since 2000.

Second point, labor-saving technology is *not* what is wrong with the US economy. Faster productivity growth in production means lower inflation, which means more stimulative US monetary policy (or at least it should). That means more GDP growth and more employment elsewhere.

This, this video doesn't imply that there still isn't *something* wrong with the US manufacturing sector, and that something is not fast productivity growth. Still, somehow it's fascinating to watch an assembly line.