Tag: consumer

Is Productivity Growth Becoming Irrelevant?

Is Productivity Growth Becoming Irrelevant?

LONDON – As the Nobel laureate economist Robert Solow noted in 1987 , computers are “everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” Since then, the so-called productivity paradox has become ever more striking. Automation has eliminated many jobs. Robots and artificial intelligence now seem to promise (or threaten) yet more radical change. Yet productivity growth has slowed across the advanced economies; in Britain, labor is no more productive today than it was in 2007.

Some economists see low business investment, poor skills, outdated infrastructure, or excessive regulation holding back potential growth. Others note wide disparities in productivity between leaders and laggards […]

The Finance 202: ‘Made in America’ week belies weak manufacturing numbers

The Finance 202: 'Made in America' week belies weak manufacturing numbers

(c) 2017, The Washington Post.

Welcome to "Made in America" Week, the latest attempt by the White House to get back on offense by hammering a theme from President Trump’s economic agenda.

If past is prologue, drama from the health-care debate and new Russia revelations – reinforced by Trump tweets – will swamp the message. And the domestic manufacturing push starts out as a tough sell for a president whose retail empire outsources much of its production abroad. Ditto for Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, whose own company relies exclusively on foreign factories in Bangladesh, Indonesia, China and elsewhere, […]

Population Aging 2017

Population Aging 2017

As political controversy flares in the US and our European friends prepare to “vacation” for the month of August, two parallel events are cutting through the summer heat and distractions as clear reminders of the global megatrend of population aging.

The first is the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), held in London next week, which will bring together Alzheimer’s experts, innovators, advocates and caregivers to develop strategies to combat the disease. https://www.alz.org/aaic/ Second, immediately following AAIC, the once-every-four-year International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) conference https://www.iagg2017.org/ will convene about 6,000 from medicine, healthcare, economics, and retirement professions, including […]

Amazon finds new way to help robots take human jobs – with reptile-based tech

Amazon finds new way to help robots take human jobs – with reptile-based tech

It’s a touchy problem, with a sticky solution.

Robots working in warehouses and product distribution centers lack the dexterity to perform certain tasks.

As Amazon notes in a patent received this week, “One heretofore significant drawback in such automation has been the difficulty that robotic inventory handlers have in manipulating objects that are irregularly shaped, irregularly positioned, or collapsible.”In its ongoing efforts to replace human labor with machines, Amazon has patented a technology derived from the humble gecko, a wall-climbing lizard known for its adhesive feet.To help clumsy-handed robots grab and move problematic items – which could also include airport baggage […]

Are automated orders at McDonald’s a game changer?

Are automated orders at McDonald’s a game changer?

New ordering kiosk at McDonald’s in Orange, Calif. (Jonathan Lansner/Orange County Register/SCNG) On a recent visit to a remodeled McDonald’s restaurant in Orange, I was greeted by the latest in burger-ordering technology.

A large self-service display that allowed me, with touchscreen technology, to have it my way without human interaction.

Automation continues to touch many parts of our daily lives – both as consumers and worker bees. Numerous questions swirl about what this latest wave of technology intrusion into the shopping arena and workplace will eventually mean.To me, a simple point of contention: Does it work?The McDonald’s system I was trying […]

North American robotics market growing and creating new types of work, says A3

North American robotics market growing and creating new types of work, says A3

The fast-growing North American robotics and automation market is creating new kinds of jobs, according to the Association for Advancing Automation , or A3.

The association says new technologies, such as collaborative robots and advanced vision systems are driving growth and diversity of employment in the sector.

Jeff Burnstein, who has a number of roles in the association including A3 president, says: “Automation technologies are fueling entirely new categories of jobs – really creating the jobs of the future – in addition to enabling companies to become more productive and create higher-quality products in safer environments.”The association has organised numerous […]

July 5: In the Khadr case, $10-million talks. Plus other letters to the editor

July 5: In the Khadr case, $10-million talks. Plus other letters to the editor

Omar Khadr answers questions during a news conference after being released on bail in Edmonton on May 7, 2015. He was once the youngest prisoner held on terror charges at Guantanamo Bay. (Dan Riedlhuber/Reuters) Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

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$10-million talks Re Ottawa To Offer Apology To Omar Khadr (July 4): Thank you. Please send the invoice […]

Need jobs? Get robots, and education right.

Need jobs? Get robots, and education right.

Jobs were in the center spotlight in this year’s election. Trump used it as a weapon against Hillary to mobilize the many millions of voters that felt as though technology, immigrants, and free trade had left them behind. Clinton suggested spending hundreds of billions to upgrade our infrastructure and make state colleges and Universities tuition-free.

However, Trump gave his audience something easier to chew on: a promise to bring back jobs from China and revive obsolete and otherwise dangerous jobs, such as mining. Both candidates chose to stay in the soundbite-friendly territories of minimum wage, taxes , and trade agreements […]

The Robots Are Coming — Will Your Job Be Next?

I recently delivered the keynote address at an education conference at which I spoke about the changing face of American industry. There is a need to rapidly adapt the workforce for an exciting and interesting future brought about by continued advancements in industrial automation and robotics.

Following the speech, I was approached by a woman who told me she really enjoyed what I had to say. Following some pleasantries she got down to business. “I just can’t help but worry though,” she confided, “about what happens to all the poor people whose jobs are replaced by robots.” She is not […]

As Men Make Way For Machines, Many A Jobs May Vanish

As Men Make Way For Machines, Many A Jobs May Vanish

The speed with which the idea of a Universal Basic Income is gaining adherents in the West should be a giveaway: a lot of jobs are simply not coming back, and there will be those who are permanently unemployable.

On a May trip to Paris and the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the things that startled me is the virtual extinction of various categories of jobs. Technology could well be the culprit, although I read somewhere that only a single official job classification has explicitly disappeared in the United States in the last 60 years: elevator (lift) operator. But […]