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What is Egypt’s vision of 2030? – Daily News Egypt

What is Egypt’s vision of 2030? - Daily News Egypt

Over the 22 years I have been involved in the annual Euromoney Egypt Conference I have seen both Egyptian and international experts and policy-makers advocate many models of development. Egypt’s been through some challenging times both politically and economically and has changed beyond recognition since I first visited in 1994, but I believe that few would disagree that the country has missed many opportunities and travelled down some wrong paths. The need for change and development is stronger than ever.

However, any economy, particularly one as big and complex as Egypt’s does not change quickly. If real change is to […]

What is Universal Basic Income?

What is Universal Basic Income?

The concept of Universal Basic Income has received a lot of news coverage lately. Icons of industry like Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have all voiced their support for this “social-security-for-all” type system. With the increases in automation and technology, billionaires like Musk say Universal Basic Income will become “ necessary ” given the mass unemployment in the near future.

Around the world, locations like Finland, Namibia and even Hawaii are experimenting with a form of basic income. Alaska has had a similar system for over 30 years where Alaskans receive an annual dividend payment … just for […]

Richard MacManus: What to do when AI takes your job

Richard MacManus: What to do when AI takes your job

Experts predict that AI will be able to drive a truck by 2027, work in retail by 2031, and work as a surgeon by 2053. OPINION: Artificial intelligence is never far away from the news in 2017, with most reports highlighting its dangers.

There’s no shortage of celebrity scaremongers, including Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. "If you’re not concerned about AI safety, you should be," he said recently. He added that AI presents "vastly more risk than North Korea".

Well, not in the short term. AI is still decades away from attaining human-level intelligence – if it ever does. So […]

3 Major Trends Shaping The Global Labor Market

3 Major Trends Shaping The Global Labor Market

Unlike the topography of the country — born out of slow moving glaciers during the last Ice Age — the economic landscape is an ever-changing thing. The trends that come and go can be measured in months rather than millennia, yet their affects can be felt for years to come.

Now that we’re more than half-way through the year, it’s apt timing to look at the latest trends promising to influence the global labor market.

Jobs are going digital We have the Internet of Things to thank for this growing trend. As we expect greater connectivity between devices, the need […]

How To Receive Radical Basic Income Benefits

How To Receive Radical Basic Income Benefits

How To Receive Radical Basic Income Benefits Basic income studies seem to be popping up all over the globe.

Government leaders realize technological advancement is displacing jobs while simultaneously generating more income. This means more robots and fewer workers. More income from automation, more poverty for people. Technologically advanced smartphones and other mechanical devices eliminate job security. Inevitably, resulting in the inability to survive on minimal or no earnings.

In an attempt to equalize the socioeconomic effects , governments have begun programs to evaluate the effectiveness of basic income benefits. Traditional welfare programs have their limitations. Most have caused many […]

How ‘bulls**t jobs are causing an ‘an epidemic of stress’ – and why we should be working a 15 HOUR week

How 'bulls**t jobs are causing an 'an epidemic of stress' - and why we should be working a 15 HOUR week

With Australians working more hours than ever before, some academics are calling for a 15 hour work week alongside a universal basic income.

Dutch historian Rutger Bregman says working a shorter week in combination with a guaranteed income would give people the freedom to do what they really want.

He agrees with anarchist activist economist David Graeber, who has long been a critic of what he calls ‘bulls**t jobs’. With Australians working more hours than ever , prominent thinkers are calling for a 15 hour work week and the elimination of pointless ‘bulls**t jobs’ (pictured, stock image) Dutch historian Rutger Bregman […]

Economists claim we should work 15 hour weeks

Economists claim we should work 15 hour weeks

It might seem too good to be true, especially since many Aussies struggle to keep up with the cost of living, but we should only be working 15 hours per week.

This was economist John Maynard Keynes’ plan for the modern day back in 1930 – that our working hours would dwindle down to 15 by 2030 – but somehow, we’ve managed to veer miles away from that path.

A U.S. Senate committee in the ‘60s also backed Keynes’ claims, predicting we’d be down to 14 working hours by 2000."I think it’s just extraordinary… Until the 1970s almost all […]

What are some of the strongest arguments against universal basic income? Can they be overcome?

Well, it depends what you mean by ‘strong.’

If you mean ‘strong’ in the sense of a rational, reasonable, compelling argument, based on a sound understanding of Economics, then those are very difficult to come by.

However, if what you mean by ‘strong’ is an ‘argument’ that may be sufficient to convince many ordinary people who do not have a sound grounding in Economics, then that is much easier.The main two ‘arguments’ most commonly made against Basic Income are 1) That it is unaffordable, and 2) That is would result in most of the population – or even ‘everyone’ – giving […]

Want to cut healthcare costs? Try automation

Want to cut healthcare costs? Try automation

© Getty Images In the intense and ongoing debate over federal healthcare policy, the cost of prescription drugs has been a central and constant issue. Lawmakers from both parties have put forward dizzyingly diverse range of plans that aim to reduce costs and respond to constituent’s demands.

But there’s one straightforward technical tool for reducing drug costs that hasn’t appeared in the high-profile debate.

When it comes to manufacturing pharmaceuticals, Americans should consider investing in automation.It’s no secret: automation can be a dirty word in U.S. politics. It’s often synonymous with computers or robots taking jobs and shuttering factories. There’s some […]

Automation, Unemployment and Moravec’s Paradox

Automation, Unemployment and Moravec’s Paradox

Writing in the Guardian , here’s Larry Elliott on automation. The whole article is well worth a read, even if it’s too simplistic to argue (as he does) that the Luddites were wrong. Over the longish term they most certainly were. The industrial revolution paved the way for an immense improvement in living standards. But what that happy history omits is the fact that it took a while to do so, a phenomenon known as the ‘Engels pause’: In the first half of the nineteenth century, the real wage [in Britain] stagnated while output per worker expanded. The profit […]