Today's Pickup: Workers Are More Concerned Of People Replacing Them Than Robots

Good day,

A study at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Erasmus University found that workers are more nervous about being replaced by people than by robots. However, in the long run, workers are concerned about the threat of automation to manual jobs. The study explains that it is possible to see sense in such a conflicting perspective by understanding the tendency of people to relate more with a fellow human than with a robot. The report pointed out the need for skills training, pushing workers to gain new skills that can keep them in contention even with the threat of robots around.  

Did you know?

The U.S. Treasury bond yield curve inverted on Wednesday for the first time since 2007, in a sign of investor concern that the economy might be heading for a recession. 

Quotable

"Capital discipline is more important now than at any time I've seen it. We can oversupply the market, and we have."

– Harold Hamm, chairman of Continental Resources, on the need to slow down shale oil production and focus on capital discipline. 

In other news

China is still hurting from the trade war and the pressure is mounting

The trade war might be headed for a slight reprieve, but China is still getting battered by a slowing economy and its standoff with the United States. (CNN)

Oil markets face nightmare scenario

Oil prices crash again as financial markets see the risk of economic recession rising in spite of the tariff delay. (Oilprice)

GM and Ford are hunkering down for a recession

The U.S.'s top two automakers reiterated this week that they're preparing for a major economic downturn by hoarding cash under the mattress. (Jalopnik)

Brexit: No chance of U.S. trade deal if Irish accord hit – Pelosi

A U.S.-U.K. trade deal will not get through Congress if Brexit undermines the Good Friday Agreement, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has said. (BBC)

Walmart files patent for blockchain-backed drone communication

The commerce giant filed for an application entitled "Cloning Drones Using Blockchain" in January 2019; the United States Patent and Trademark Office published the patent on August 1. (Coindesk)

Final Thoughts

The German economy is slumping, as the second quarter reports show decreased exports and manufacturers that are struggling to figure a way out of the global economic downturn, the looming Brexit and the U.S.-China tariff war. Overall output fell by 0.1 percent from last quarter, with the German government ringing the alarm bells saying it needs to take action to save the economy from spiraling into recession. 

The Federal Statistics Office showed that annual growth slowed to 0.4 percent from 0.9 percent in the first quarter, with the overall 2019 growth expected to stall at 0.5 percent compared to 2018's 1.5 percent. 

Hammer down everyone!

Image Sourced from Pixabay