Suggests that in the absence of a tighter labor market, the high proportion of blacks and other minority group members or women cannot substantially improve their economic situation. The surest reinforcing agency for existing inequalities and discrimination is a continuing loose labor market. (Author/AM)

Discusses how mechanization of work has been treated by economists, what its effect has been on the past U.S. economy, and what its future effect is likely to be. Emphasizes the impact of mechanization on the shifting structure and character of the labor force and evolution of the work environment. (Author/JN)