Report: Robots steadily erode wages

The bottom line: This is the case for the best new technologies, sometimes continuing even decades after their release, said Rajadhyaksha, who heads Barclays' macro research team. "Technology frequently ends up lowering the skill-set needed to do a job," he writes, "in turn expanding the pool of potential workers, which then acts as a drag on wage growth."

• When a new technology is released, Rajadhyaksha told me, small things that may not seem important end up being primary to their impact. As an example, he cites the introduction of rear cameras and power steering to semi-trucks. Since the trucks were now easier to navigate and required less strength to steer, driver wages fell. "You see this over and over," he said.