Shift Change

The microchip, invented by an American, exploited by the Japanese, is seen here to have caused a second industrial revolution. The devastating effect on millions of human lives is shown in microcosm through interviews with some of the newly jobless in Hamilton, Ontario. Faces bitter, voices hopeless, they speak of a vibrant secure past having suddenly given way to a bleak present and an uncertain future; they fear for their children's prospects. Using the example of Japan as contrast, host James Laxer demonstrates that the cost of technological advances need not be so high if their effects are foreseen and planned for. Part two of the series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada.