The Grip of History

Robert Skidelsky on the Luddites and the Industrial Revolution
http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/robert-skidelsky-revisits-the-luddites--claim-that-automation-depresses-real-wages 

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Regarding Recent Development -
The Future Looks Dull From Here by Ezra Klein

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/the-future-looks-dull-from-here.html