Abstract
This paper reflects on the impacts of technological innovations on employment, from three authors of different theoretical conceptions, namely Ricardo, Marx and Wicksell. In particular, it pursues to recover the arguments used in three important approaches to the problem: the compensation view; the intrinsic tendency to generate technological unemployment, subject to counter-trends; and the optimal balance, with product maximization and wage increases. After analyzing the debates, the paper shows how several of the issues present in them still remain in current discussions, highlighting their inconclusive character.
Keywords:
machinery question; innovation; unemployment