European policymakers must become "serious in thinking about redistribution" if they want to promote productivity gains, Benoît Coeuré told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 20.

The arrival of new technologies such as automation might displace workers into lower-productivity jobs or "destroy jobs faster than it creates them", the European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member said.

This meant that policymakers would have to take serious steps to bring