Tag: consumption

My Say: The centrality of decently paid jobs

My Say: The centrality of decently paid jobs

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on October 15, 2018 – October 21, 2018.

I want to start by offering a vision for Malaysia’s future: Society’s income distribution will transition from its current triangle shape, which is large at the bottom, into a more equitable diamond structure, anchored in the centre by a strong and stable middle class.

Each of us in the New Malaysia will have to do some hard thinking about how to translate this vision into reality.We must be clear that Pakatan Harapan did not win the last election by fanning racial, religious or […]

Don’t get left behind: Prof examines how big data, automation are revolutionizing the world of retail

Don’t get left behind: Prof examines how big data, automation are revolutionizing the world of retail

Mohammad Rahman. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Mohammad Rahman studies how technology is transforming people and businesses

Rahman says AI could exploit our biases rather than help us overcome them

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — As an international student from Bangladesh, Mohammad Rahman graduated with a degree in computer science shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.“Because of my name and the fact I was an F-1 international student, it was difficult to find a job,” said Rahman , now an associate professor in the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University and one of the 40 best professors under 40 […]

Companies Should Help You Retrain When You’re Automated Out of a Job

Companies Should Help You Retrain When You’re Automated Out of a Job

PureSolution/Shutterstock.com Reskilling is shaping up to be an imperative—and perhaps the imperative—of the next decade. That is because as machines increasingly complement people in the workplace, automation will bring about major shifts in both occupations and skills.

We estimate that if the pace of automation adoption is in the midpoint of our range of scenarios, about 15% of the global workforce, or 400 million workers, will be displaced by 203 0. (That range stretches from almost nobody, if automation adoption is slow, to 800 million, in the event of very rapid automation).

At the same time, as new technologies and the […]

Level of automation in the UK ‘pretty rubbish’, says Bank of England economist

Level of automation in the UK 'pretty rubbish', says Bank of England economist

Robotic arms work on the bodyshells of Mini cars as they pass along a section of automated production line at the BMW Mini car production plant in Oxford Credit: Geoff Caddick/AFP A Bank of England economist described British automation as "pretty rubbish" in a speech explaining patterns in the labour market.

Will Abel, who works on the labour markets, housing and consumption team, said the UK’s "below average" use of robotics is leading to a higher proportion of GDP going to the labour force. This measure is also known as the "labour share".

"One reason why we might not have seen […]

AI to spur global economic growth- report

AI to spur global economic growth- report

Artificial intelligence (AI) could add $13 trillion to worldwide economic output by 2030, equivalent to about 1.2 per cent of additional GDP growth a year, according to a new report. The study by McKinsey Global Institute has predicted that about 70% of companies would implement some form of AI by the end of the next decade, with frontrunners set to reap a large financial benefit.

Early adopters of the technology could double their cashflow, with laggards suffering a 20 per cent decline.

Overall, AI could deliver $13 trillion in additional global economic activity by 2030, putting its contributions to growth on […]

Coffee and Contemplation: Could Universal Basic Income bridge divide between man and machine?

Coffee and Contemplation: Could Universal Basic Income bridge divide between man and machine?

Last week we talked about AI and its inevitable impact on the lifestyles and employment of people in the workforce. You can argue reasonably I think about how much impact AI and automation is going to have. Some think it’s more, some think its less.

Some think that it will be a net gain of zero, with new types of jobs being created to fill the vacuum left by those lost to automation. I’m sure the horse thought the same thing about that new car thing a century ago.

For the sake of argument, however, let’s say the horse is wrong.Let’s […]

Automation: Benefits and Employment

Automation is a force beyond our comprehension and will have a global impact like nothing else we have ever seen. This is not to say that it is altogether a new idea. Decades ago, science minded dreamers from around the globe would paint philosophical dreamscapes that portrayed a world built on the backs of human ingenuity.

Starting in the early 20th century, automation introduced itself to the world in the form of massive materials factories that could speed up the productivity of workers and create form perfect products for mass consumption. These behemoths of the old world have become standard […]

Japan urges companies to invest more in their workers

Japan urges companies to invest more in their workers

Workers who lack the skills to help shape the digital future risk having their jobs automated. © Reuters TOKYO — Japanese employers and employees will have to work together to improve workers’ skills or risk being left behind by the digital revolution, according to the upcoming Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance 2018.

Japan’s Cabinet Office is finalizing the report and could release it this month.

A draft of the report seen by Nikkei stresses the impact that the digital revolution is having on Japan’s labor force. Saying further economic growth rests on workers becoming more digitally literate, […]

Missing in the future of jobs debate: the elasticity of human needs

Missing in the future of jobs debate: the elasticity of human needs

There is a lot of debate on whether Industry 4.0 with a strong underpinning of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is going to result in large-scale unemployment. This seems a bit odd because neither technology nor automation is a 21st-century phenomenon! They are as old as humanity itself, and if this appears an exaggeration, then they are at least as old as the industrial revolution at least.

The battle between man and machines goes back centuries. At one point of time, the worry was what would happen if spinning machines replaced weavers and if steam engines took the place […]

Robots Run the Farm, but You Can Eat Only So Much

Robots Run the Farm, but You Can Eat Only So Much

Will robots cause the factory to go the way of the farm? Many economists seem to think so. “Rising levels of productivity benefit manufacturing,” declares a recent paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “but also naturally lead to declining employment—much as the agricultural sector has experienced declining employment and rising output in the twentieth century.” Since the end of World War II, technology has caused agriculture’s share of U.S. employment to drop from nearly 10% to just 1%.

This analysis misses a point that becomes obvious once you think about it: One can eat only so much. […]