When droids take your job

[Commentary] The stubbornly high unemployment rate has left policymakers wondering whether there's something more at work than just an unusually steep recession.

Have the country, its businesses and its markets changed in some fundamental way, leaving millions of Americans with skills that are no longer needed? Economists are sharply divided on that point, but two from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology make a compelling argument that the technology revolution is vaporizing careers faster than many Americans can embark on new ones. If the authors are right, there's no short-term fix to the fundamental problem U.S. workers face. But as lawmakers struggle to breathe life into the moribund economy and bring down budget deficits, they need to recognize that growth over the long term depends on how well the country harnesses the technology-fueled advances in productivity. That means equipping far more Americans with skills relevant to the new era. Otherwise, the stagnating wages and employment of the past decade will become the painful new normal.