Tag: inequality

Opinion: If the Democrats keep saying crazy things about the economy, Trump will win again

Opinion: If the Democrats keep saying crazy things about the economy, Trump will win again

Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang exchange a high-five at the Democratic presidential candidates debate. With felonies flying fast and furious at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this week, it may seem a curious time to write about how Democrats running for president are saying kind of crazy things.

But they are.

Because Andrew Yang, Bernie Sanders and (sometimes) Elizabeth Warren are radically misdiagnosing problems in the U.S. economy, they are off — often miles off — in prescriptions for reform.The sheer amount of loose talk about how capitalism is failing is stunning. This myth-making scares workers in the present, and sparks proposals that […]

Opinion: If the Democrats keep saying crazy things about the economy, Trump will win again

Opinion: If the Democrats keep saying crazy things about the economy, Trump will win again

Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang exchange a high-five at the Democratic presidential candidates debate. With felonies flying fast and furious at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this week, it may seem a curious time to write about how Democrats running for president are saying kind of crazy things.

But they are.

Because Andrew Yang, Bernie Sanders and (sometimes) Elizabeth Warren are radically misdiagnosing problems in the U.S. economy, they are off — often miles off — in prescriptions for reform.The sheer amount of loose talk about how capitalism is failing is stunning. This myth-making scares workers in the present, and sparks proposals that […]

Workplace Automation: Should We Fear the Robots?

Workplace Automation: Should We Fear the Robots?

Science fiction has given us plenty of negative portrayals of robots, from “Ex Machina” to “The Terminator” films. In real life, St. Louis Fed researchers are separating fact from fiction when it comes to automation’s impact on jobs. Science fiction has not been kind to the robot.

For every sympathetic depiction of a robot (remember “WALL-E”?) many more are negative (think “Ex Machina”).

One reason for such dismal depictions may be our own fear that rapid technological advances could overwhelm and possibly replace us — perhaps not in the way Skynet tries to eliminate humanity in “The Terminator” films, but by […]

Economic Inequality & Employment

From shifting job categories , the disruption and decimation of industries, and an impending global skills mismatch, to the concentration of extreme wealth, income inequality, and avoidance of corporate taxes, Silicon Valley’s role in furthering economic inequality is hugely important, insufficiently understood, and under-actioned. The role technology plays in changing the conditions and types of employment, as well as reshaping global economics, is not the most publicized problem the industry has weathered, but it will be the next—and it will be the worst. Like other harmful social outcomes in which it is complicit, the tech industry’s mentality, priorities, and […]

Workforce Automation Exacerbates The Racial Wealth Gap

Workforce Automation Exacerbates The Racial Wealth Gap

null Getty For generations of workers displacement has been a normal albeit unequal process, now technology is adding another layer to the mix. Workplace automation presents the larger society with a conundrum, as A.I. is set to upend companies, leaving African Americans especially vulnerable. Nearly 4.5 million African Americans in the next 10 years could lose their jobs due to automaton. Is it possible this business impediment will lead to more income inequality and is there anything that can be done about it?

The Breakdown You Need to Know: In a new report from McKinsey focused on the impact […]

A global strike for a feminist future of work

A global strike for a feminist future of work

The IMF claims to be empowering women, but its programmes will only lead to more women doing precarious work. APWLD mobilisation against the IMF and World Bank, October 2018 Read more!

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Speculation around the future of work has dominated policy discussion among governments and international agencies, especially the UN and ILO, in recent years. The debate centers around how technology will disrupt the workforce, with focus on increased automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). This has resulted in various policy recommendations ranging from retraining and upskilling, redesigning education systems, to flexibilisation of jobs.The World Bank […]

Is AI an agent of big tech hegemony or multi-disciplinary research and innovation?

Is AI an agent of big tech hegemony or multi-disciplinary research and innovation?

Summary: A recent New York Times article focused on fears of a big tech monopoly over AI technology and research. Severe debunkery ensues… A recent New York Times article fretting about the soaring costs of developing and training leading-edge deep learning models and my admittedly provocative Tweet questioning the premise and motives of the article’s sources led to the type of online banter that indicates a nuanced question ill-suited for pithy Twitter responses.

Fears of AI creating a chasm between haves and have-nots are common, however the topic of AI-fueled inequality typically centers on its economic effects, namely that the […]

Unmarried women in US face shortage of economically attractive male partners: Study

Unmarried women in US face shortage of economically attractive male partners: Study

DSW Inc. Shoe Store in New York Textual content Dimension:

Recent declines in US marriage are mirrored each in delayed marriage and will increase in everlasting singlehood, punctuated by intermittent spells of nonmarital cohabitation. One argument is that the normal financial foundations of marriage have been eroded by a deteriorating job market, a consequence of automation, deskilling, deunionisation, and international competitors for affordable labour.

Certainly, sociologist William Julius Wilson’s (1987) “marriageable male” speculation gives a helpful theoretical and empirical benchmark, claiming that declines in marriage are pushed at the least partially by reductions in employment prospects and earnings amongst males, particularly […]

India Economic Summit: Anti-globalisation, US-China trade war, tech disruption dominate discussions

India Economic Summit: Anti-globalisation, US-China trade war, tech disruption dominate discussions

WEF India Economic Summit 2019 There are multiple issues needling the world right now. Globalisation appears to be in retreat, the gap between the haves and the have-nots are widening in many parts of the world and countries are struggling to deal with the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. These themes resonated at the opening day of the 33rd India Economic Summit in Delhi on Thursday. The summit is hosted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Many business leaders and politicians appeared to be worried that the trade frictions between different countries […]

Automation Could Drastically Change The Landscape Of Labor. But Who Loses In An Increasingly High-Tech World?

Automation Could Drastically Change The Landscape Of Labor. But Who Loses In An Increasingly High-Tech World?

Automobile production. Shutterstock While automation can lead to higher productivity and cheaper prices for consumers, its emergence poses a risk for a significant portion of the U.S. labor force, studies found.

The working class — including individuals employed in the production, food service, and transportation industries — are at greater risk of losing their jobs to automation than others who are working in fields that require more education.

One study by the Brookings Institution found that, while automation won’t lead to a “job apocalypse,” it could spell trouble for working class Americans who perform monotonous jobs. […]