Tag: consumption

The 2020s are set to be an economic turning point, says global banking giant

The 2020s are set to be an economic turning point, says global banking giant

Bank of America Merrill Lynch says inequality will peak amid the rise of "moral capitalism". The 2020s are set to be a decade of dramatic economic and social upheaval, reversing many of the trends of the past 40 years, according to one of the world’s largest banks. Bank of America Merrill Lynch says the era of globalisation from 1981-2016 has ended and is reversing

The bank’s analysts expect inflation and interest rates to increase from their current 5,000-year lows

The bank is expecting wealth inequality to fall next decade as voters demand redistribution and taxes rise In what it […]

Robots, automation and AI, oh my!

Robots, automation and AI, oh my!

Last month, participants in Columbus VC firm Drive Capital’s second robotics and automation summit spent the day exploring the future.

Whether it was robots that deliver packages, using ant colonies to inspire a redesign of supply chain, or software that simplifies industrial robot programming, those attending Devol’s Dance — including startup founders, executives, investors and thought leaders — shared ideas about the world we’re shaping.

Drive Capital Partner Chris Olsen says he remembers the days of technology investing, where as part of due diligence, you looked in server rooms to see how they racked and stacked their hardware.“Then you could get […]

Voting for policy and candidates in elections

What if I were to tell you that every month, Americans 18 and over could receive $1,000 per month for the rest of their lives with no strings or gimmicks attached? This policy known as Universal Basic Income (UBI) is essentially a price floor that guarantees every American citizen over 18, a fixed amount per month regardless of your income or employment status.
You may think it sounds nice and wonder why no one has ever mentioned previously mentioned it; however, UBI isn’t a completely foreign concept in U.S. history. Back in the 1960s, UBI gained traction passing through […]

Automation and AI: Implications for African Development Prospects?

Automation and AI: Implications for African Development Prospects?

Introduction

Now that computers are capable of taking the jobs that require brain as well as brawn, it may appear there is little left for humans to do. There are many scary forecasts of the capacity of automation and AI to replace a lot of workers very fast. Self-driving vehicles may wipe out opportunities for taxi drivers and truckers, for example. Brynjolfsson, Rock, and Syverson note there are 3.5 million people employed driving vehicles in the US. If automation reduced that to 1.5 million, that alone would increase total US labor productivity by 1.7 percent, [1] but it would […]

Leaders Need To Embrace The Digitized Future Of Work, Not Fear

Leaders Need To Embrace The Digitized Future Of Work, Not Fear

The machines are coming for our jobs. This is a dystopian vision of the future of work popularized by the media and perpetuated in boardrooms across the globe.

South Africa is not immune from this misperception and here it has created a climate of fear and paralysis. Leaders, both civic and corporate, hesitate to encourage and incentivise the very digitalization needed to sustain and grow our economies out of a misguided fear of job losses and the ensuing civil backlash.

Ironically, the exact efforts to protect jobs from technology may end up being the biggest cause of job losses in the […]

Op-Ed: Why leaders need to embrace, not fear, the digitised future of work

Op-Ed: Why leaders need to embrace, not fear, the digitised future of work

By Valter Adão, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Deloitte Africa

The machines are coming for our jobs. This is a dystopian vision of the future of work popularised by the media and perpetuated in boardrooms across the globe.

South Africa is not immune from this misperception and here it has created a climate of fear and paralysis. Leaders, both civic and corporate, hesitate to encourage and incentivise the very digitalisation needed to sustain and grow our economies out of a misguided fear of job losses and the ensuing civil backlash.Ironically, the exact efforts to protect jobs from technology may end […]

Andrew Yang, Snake Oil Salesman

Andrew Yang, Snake Oil Salesman

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks at the New Hampshire Democratic Party state convention in Manchester, September 7, 2019. Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur and gadfly, has definitely cleared the bar for a successful cause candidate.

Not only has he exceeded expectations for his polling and fundraising, not only has he developed a cult following, not only has he got people talking about his signature idea, the universal basic income, he actually has other candidates expressing openness to it.

It’s too bad that Yang’s idea is a foolish response to a non-problem. Worse, Yang is trying to persuade people to fear and oppose […]

Andrew Yang’s (phantom) robot menace

Andrew Yang’s (phantom) robot menace

Enlarge Image Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur and gadfly, has definitely cleared the bar for a successful cause candidate.

Not only has he exceeded expectations for his polling and fundraising, not only has he developed a cult following, not only has he got people talking about his signature idea, the universal basic income, he actually has other candidates expressing openness to it.

It’s too bad that Yang’s idea is a foolish response to a non-problem. Worse, Yang is trying to convince people to fear and oppose something that we need more of and that is a key to economic progress and […]

Why Is Andrew Yang So Afraid of Automation?

Why Is Andrew Yang So Afraid of Automation?

Win McNamee/Getty Images Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur and gadfly, has definitely cleared the bar for a successful cause candidate.

Not only has he exceeded expectations for his polling and fundraising, not only has he developed a cult following, not only has he got people talking about his signature idea, the universal basic income, he actually has other candidates expressing openness to it, as we saw during the debate Tuesday night. This is how an idea enters the bloodstream, and at least gets a chance at widespread acceptance.

It’s too bad that Yang’s idea is a foolish response to a nonproblem. […]

Cobots the new lab assistants

Cobots the new lab assistants

Sriram RD , Managing Director, AuroLab and Pradeep David , General Manager, South Asia, Universal Robots in conversation with Prathiba Raju elucidate on how automation via cobots is reshaping the medical devices and diagnostic industry

Why is it necessary for the Indian medical devices and diagnostics industry to be automated?

Sriram RD: There is a lot of work in the medical industry that needs to be automated like packaging and other activities of the same kind. Pharma industry is considered as the sector which is established in a better way and several machines remain fully automated. There is […]