Yes, I do. It's probably easy for someone who doesn't deal with complex technology to believe that engineers are a generic commodity and that whatever needs to be done could be done in China or India just as well for a lot less money. Fortunately for me, they've found that's not the case but unfortunately, they've screwed up the processes that we use to the point where job satisfaction and productivity have reached rock-bottom. But as long as they can sell stock to people who understand even less than they do, their bonuses never seem to suffer.Is that your way of saying that you think your employer under-compensates you for your labor?Those of us who've made a career out of increasing efficiency via technological means are disgusted that upper management have sucked up the fruits of that efficiency for themselves.That's certainly possible, however automation itself creates jobs since somebody has to design, engineer, build, sell and maintain the machines, so while automation *may* result in a net loss of jobs it's not certain and often the result is higher paying (and more stable) jobs. The other consideration is that automation most often leads to higher productivity which increases economic output thus making the economic pie bigger for everybody.Well, with corporate tax rates going down, they will have less incentive to invest in tax deductible R&D and expansion, so it will make sense if business expansion and job growth slows.
Umm.. decisions regarding investment are based on risk/reward not solely whether or not it's deductible, a lower effective rate generally speaking means higher returns (reward) and thus (in many cases) makes investment more likely.
In other words... if I invest X amount today for Y amount of returns tomorrow, with lower effective rates Y has a lower tax exposure and thus a higher reward over the lifetime of the investment.
If I only get to deduct X once (or depreciate it over a schedule) but have to pay a higher effective rate on Y over the lifetime of the investment then the reward (possibly) isn't going to be as attractive versus the risk.
It really depends on the details of the nature of the investment and the current financial position of the company in question but IMHO more than likely it would stimulate CapEx in the aggregate.Those capital expenditures may actually cost jobs if spent on automation technologies.but IMHO more than likely it would stimulate CapEx in the aggregate.