Tag: inequality

Tech innovation means less work for people to do, making it harder to find meaning in life, according to a new book by economist Daniel Susskind

Tech innovation means less work for people to do, making it harder to find meaning in life, according to a new book by economist Daniel Susskind

Daniel Susskind’s "A World Without Work" was published in January, 2020 Henry Holt & Company Economist Daniel Susskind’s new book, "A World Without Work," states that there will be less work to go around as technology innovation automates more tasks.

Governments might have to do more to help people in the future who are underemployed, including new taxation policies.

A more difficult problem to solve is helping people find meaning in their lives when occupations no longer provide validation. Susskind said economists should be engaging in these topics as the evolution continues. This article is part […]

The solution to the job apocalypse!

The solution to the job apocalypse!

Summary: One aspect of the industrial revolution now beginning is the coming wave of automation from the combination of semi-intelligent machines, better algorithms, improved cheap sensors, and more skilled manipulators. Most hope that the jobs lost will be replaced by new jobs, just as unemployed farmers got jobs in factories and unemployed factory workers got jobs in services. These hopes are right – and wrong. Here is why. “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”
— Attributed to Roy Charles Amara as paraphrased by Robert […]

A New Wrinkle And Danger In How Automation Will Obsolete Jobs

A New Wrinkle And Danger In How Automation Will Obsolete Jobs

ANLONG, CHINA – JANUARY 7,2020 – Workers operate intelligent scans on electrical automation Automation and the transformation of work are critical topics today and a potential upheaval (not in a good sense) taken to income inequality.

There have been many takes on the topic. Some people are sure that, as has happened before in the Industrial Revolution and at other points, such as the commercial use of electricity, the development of integrated electronics, and the broad adoption of computers, some jobs will disappear, only to be replaced by others.

I’ve found the other side more persuasive: that things are different now […]

The Three Civil Rights–Era Leaders Who Warned of Computers and Racism

The Three Civil Rights–Era Leaders Who Warned of Computers and Racism

When the internet turned 50 last year, there was much to celebrate. It proved to be a powerful platform from which to mobilize millions to fight for racial, economic, and social justice, through movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, and Black Lives Matter. It has also given us a million different ways to escape, chill out, and give ourselves a much-needed break—from cat videos to Cookie Clicker (where I have amassed more than 55 million cookies in just the past week alone).

But the anniversary also gives us a reason to reflect. Computing and the internet have […]

Redefining Capitalism @Davos 2020

Redefining Capitalism @Davos 2020

In the last decade

There’s been trade

There’s been globalizationThere’s been technology It’s all good Or not?Companies are flush with funds, but real incomes of people have declinedGrowth has not been equal; the richest 2000 own more than 4.6 billion othersCapitalism has flourished while people have been left behindCapitalism has flourished while our environment has been severely degraded It’s not all good These are the debates and the discussions at the World Economic Forum at Davos where business leaders and experts are highlighting the need to redefine the current form of capitalism also called “shareholder capitalism” which is the dominant form […]

Why the US needs to follow Switzerland’s example when it comes to jobs

Why the US needs to follow Switzerland's example when it comes to jobs

US president Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on 22 January. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg US president Donald Trump may have used his platform at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland this week to claim America had a “stunning turnaround” as the unemployment rate hit a 50-year low .

However, the US still has a workforce problem.

Current unemployment figures don’t reveal the full picture. For example, levels of income and whether those employed are managing the cost of living. It also doesn’t take into account whether those in employment now have the skills to survive […]

Daniel Susskind: ‘Automation of jobs is one of the greatest questions of our time’

Daniel Susskind: ‘Automation of jobs is one of the greatest questions of our time’

Daniel Susskind is an economist and fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He has held policy roles in the Blair and Cameron governments. His new book, A World Without Work , explores how society should respond to the increasing automation of employment.

This isn’t an unexplored topic, so why did you write this book?
My view is that this is one of the greatest questions of our time. And in spite of everything that has been written, I didn’t feel like we had done the question justice. I don’t think we’re taking seriously this idea that there might not […]

Industrial strategy in the advanced digital Age

Industrial strategy in the advanced digital Age

In developing an industrial strategy we often face conflicting situations. Some of them like production growth versus environmental impact, automation versus employment are highly complicated issues to deal with. The capabilities of developing countries are being challenged in finding ways for simultaneously addressing productivity, job creation, wage increase, value addition, inequality, environmental degradation, and inclusiveness. Although productivity is critical for increasing wage, it often leads to the adoption of advanced technology that reduces labour demand. To counter the role of labour-saving technology, often developing countries condone environmental issues.

However, the new industrial age offers the opportunity of addressing these variables […]

Does Nor Macdonald love Andrew Yang? It’s complicated

Does Nor Macdonald love Andrew Yang? It’s complicated

Universal Basic Income (UBI) calls for an early money transfer for every citizen, usually taken monthly. In the US presidential election, Democratic candidate Andrew Yang proposed the idea and it is now resembling wildfire. His proposal, dubbed the “Freedom Dividend,” plans to give each American citizen $ 1,000 each month. No string is attached.

The idea is not a new one, however. Guy Caron and Martin Luther King Jr. on the left, and Richard Nixon and Milton Friedman on the right, have espoused an idea of ​​a basic universal income. Then the question arises: can this policy work in Canada?

I […]

My Say: ‘So-so’ technologies and Malaysia in the 2020s

My Say: ‘So-so’ technologies and Malaysia in the 2020s

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on January 6, 2020 – January 12, 2020. Last autumn, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a report entitled, “The Work of the Future: Shaping Technology and Institutions”. This report comes amid an increasing landscape of technological buzzwords, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, mass digitalisation and my personal favourite, The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It is in this landscape of technological buzzwords that many, myself included, have spilt printer ink on a whole variety of issues, such as technology as a solution to all our societal […]