Tag: consumption

The good life after work

The good life after work

LONDON – Almost all “robots are coming” stories follow a tried-and-true pattern. “Shop Direct puts 2,000 UK jobs at risk,” screams a typical headline. Then, quoting from authoritative reports from prestigious institutes and think tanks, the article in question usually alarms audiences with extravagant estimates of “jobs at risk” – that is, percentages of workers whose livelihoods are threatened by high-tech automation. To quote another representative example: “A new report suggests that the marriage of [artificial intelligence] and robotics could replace so many jobs that the era of mass employment could come to an end.” Sometimes, this bleak outlook […]

The Good Life After Work

The Good Life After Work

Almost all “robots are coming” stories follow a tried-and-true pattern. “Shop Direct puts 2,000 UK jobs at risk,” screams a typical headline. Then, quoting from authoritative reports from prestigious institutes and think tanks, the article in question usually alarms audiences with extravagant estimates of “jobs at risk” – that is, percentages of workers whose livelihoods are threatened by high-tech automation. To quote another representative example: “A new report suggests that the marriage of [artificial intelligence] and robotics could replace so many jobs that the era of mass employment could come to an end.”

Sometimes, this bleak outlook is […]

Energy, employment and economic growth: Kemp

Energy, employment and economic growth: Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) – Policymakers in the advanced economies are increasingly worried by the economic, social and political disruption resulting from the decline of traditional manual jobs in manufacturing, mining and distribution. FILE PHOTO: Job seekers wait to speak with staff at a National Agency for Employment (Pole Emploi) office in Aubervilliers, near Paris, France, December 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Globalization, trade, migration, the rise of the internet, and the advent of artificial intelligence/robotization have all been blamed for the adverse impact on those who make a living from manual labor.

In reality, the loss of manual employment is the extension […]

Energy, employment and economic growth

Energy, employment and economic growth

Reuters (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) – Policymakers in the advanced economies are increasingly worried by the economic, social and political disruption resulting from the decline of traditional manual jobs in manufacturing, mining and distribution.

In reality, the loss of manual employment is the extension of a trend dating back more than 200 years that has gradually replaced physical jobs in agriculture, mining and manufacturing with service sector employment.Relatively rapid change in employment, energy consumption and industrial patterns has been both the stimulus to, and the consequence of, economic […]

Energy, employment and economic growth: Kemp

Energy, employment and economic growth: Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) – Policymakers in the advanced economies are increasingly worried by the economic, social and political disruption resulting from the decline of traditional manual jobs in manufacturing, mining and distribution. FILE PHOTO: Job seekers wait to speak with staff at a National Agency for Employment (Pole Emploi) office in Aubervilliers, near Paris, France, December 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Globalization, trade, migration, the rise of the internet, and the advent of artificial intelligence/robotization have all been blamed for the adverse impact on those who make a living from manual labor.

In reality, the loss of manual employment is the extension […]

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 […]