At breakfast this past weekend my wife and I were lamenting the lack of job creation by the Obama administration over the past three years with a friend of ours, Mary M. As we talked, it occurred to me that productivity gains the U.S. has been generating over the past five years may be as much a culprit in the lack of job growth as off-shoring and the general recessionary economic environment.

We see new online and on premise automation devices like self-check-in kiosks, help yourself digital photo printing, drive through toll taking, etc proliferating daily. Each of these new technologies has displaced a staffed position, albeit a low wage, low skilled job. And the companies that have installed them are pushing consumers to use these new automation devices with the penalty of higher fees for their services if you choose to use non-automated methods. But what benefit does society gain if there are no replacement jobs for these displaced workers?