Tag: consumption

As technology changes our lives, shouldn’t it change our taxes?

As technology changes our lives, shouldn’t it change our taxes?

Picture: iSTOCK Technology and the internet are changing our lives. Online shopping is displacing the high street. The gig economy is disrupting employment patterns and wages. Gaming and streaming are altering leisure habits.

However, economies are being affected by the transformations to our lifestyles resulting from smartphones, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, autonomous cars, to the internet of things and 3D printing.

Online shopping and price-comparison websites give consumers better information and more choice of places from which to buy, making it harder for companies to raise prices. Central banks are thus questioning whether inflation targeting remains valid for setting interest […]

The new spirit of postcapitalism

The new spirit of postcapitalism

Barcelona is one of the ‘fearless cities’, where the seeds of postcapitalism can start to grow The streets are full of young people (and not just students)—sitting, sipping drinks, gazing more at laptops than into each other’s eyes, talking quietly about politics, making art, looking cool.

A time traveller from their grandparents’ youth might ask: when is lunchtime over? But it’s never over because for many networked people it never really begins. In the developed world, large parts of urban reality look like Woodstock in permanent session—but what is really happening is the devalorisation of capital.

Sure, somewhere on the edge […]

AI will create more jobs than it destroys

AI will create more jobs than it destroys

AI will bring productivity growth that will create demand for work, offsetting the displacement of workers. Despite fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will wipe out millions of jobs across the globe, technological advancement is poised to be a job engine that will create more employment than it destroys.

While jobs will be displaced by automation, some technology experts allay fears of robots completely taking over. They suggest the fourth industrial revolution presents both an opportunity and a challenge that will see technology pave the way for shifts in occupations, resulting in the creation of more jobs than it will ravage.

An […]

The new spirit of postcapitalism

The new spirit of postcapitalism

Capitalism emerged in the interstices of feudalism and Paul Mason finds a prefiguring of postcapitalism in the lifeworld of the contemporary European city. Raval, Barcelona, March 2019. The streets are full of young people (and not just students)—sitting, sipping drinks, gazing more at laptops than into each other’s eyes, talking quietly about politics, making art, looking cool.

A time traveller from their grandparents’ youth might ask: when is lunchtime over? But it’s never over because for many networked people it never really begins. In the developed world, large parts of urban reality look like Woodstock in permanent session—but what is […]

The autonomous car revolution is here

The autonomous car revolution is here

Driverless cars used to be the sort of thing you’d see in reel life, but today they are becoming real in real life. India is a different ball game for driverless cars with jaywalkers, poor pothole-ridden roads and bad road discipline. Steven Spielberg’s "Minority Report" nailed the driverless car technology way back in 2002 with its futuristic Lexus-designed auto-piloted car. In one of the scenes, Tom Cruise decides to "run" from the authorities and sets off an exciting driverless car chase.

Driverless cars used to be the sort of thing you’d see in reel life, but today they are becoming […]

The Curious Task: The Automation Problem

The Curious Task: The Automation Problem

[Fair warning, this post is a bit long. This is a transcription from a Podcast Episode. If the post is a bit long for your tastes, please consider listening to the podcast episode instead.] Does automation kill jobs?

Since 1900, Manufacturing and Agriculture jobs have diminished a great deal. Using a measurement of total US employment, we can observe there has been damage to employment in these industries. Agriculture went from almost 40% in 1900, to less than 2% by 2010. Manufacturing from 25% in 1900, to just under 10% in 2010.

While automation is not responsible for the total […]

Report: Toledo area most vulnerable to automation in employment

Report: Toledo area most vulnerable to automation in employment

It seems safe to predict tractor-trailers will continue hauling the country’s goods across interstate highways in the near future.

Trucking veteran Ed Nagle, however, goes a step further. Even as autonomous vehicle technology advances and shapes the future economy, he expects a human will occupy big-rig driver’s seats for at least a decade to come.

“I tell people, when you’re ready to send your family up in an airplane without a pilot, then people will start to look at the possibility of an 80,000-pound vehicle going down the road unmanned,” said Mr. Nagle, president and CEO at Nagle Companies of Walbridge. […]

Rise of the Internet Economy in India – Trends Shaping Digital India

Rise of the Internet Economy in India – Trends Shaping Digital India

Digital Transformation is absolutely necessary for businesses that want to remain competitive, but it is also changing the landscape of work as we know it Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You’re reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

The rise of the Internet in the last decade has brought about new business models and market segments that have revolutionized the way in which companies operate today. The nation’s digital economy is poised to undergo explosive growth due to the proliferation of devices, and the Internet economy is predicted to touch the $266 billion mark in 2020, […]

Reskilling for jobs of the future

Reskilling for jobs of the future

The writer is a Cambridge graduate and is a panelist for the British Council’s debate on ‘Re-skilling for jobs of the future’. He tweets @faranmah Imagine that one day you wake up and discover that a robot has taken over your job — making you redundant. As your associate degree in computer science is pretty much outdated, you fail to get the attention of potential recruiters in your city.

However, foresight studies show that our next nightmare isn’t about robots taking over our jobs but is rather about not finding enough humans to take them. This skill crisis is as […]

Rethinking the job paradigm: Need increased focus on developing ‘mass services’ as driver of growth

Rethinking the job paradigm: Need increased focus on developing ‘mass services’ as driver of growth

As we enter the fourth industrial revolution, we have to necessarily ‘reboot’ our models if we have to deliver jobs with growth

Since the industrial revolution in the mid 19th century, countries have followed the twin strategies of manufacturing growth and merchandise exports to create millions of new jobs. (Representational photo) Jobs has become the ‘hottest’ political battle as the Lok Sabha elections approaches, as media reports on jobs data from the NSSO survey, and earlier in 2017 from the labour ministry survey of establishments, point towards job-less growth. While the government has raised questions on the accuracy of […]