Tag: inequality

A basic income grant could be the key to uplifting millions out of poverty

A basic income grant could be the key to uplifting millions out of poverty

South Africa should consider introducing a Freedom Dividend as a means to distribute wealth, says the writer. (Photo: Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius) Less

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Reactions Introducing a basic income grant, or ‘Freedom Dividend’, of R1,000 a month will help those who are unemployed and bring minimum-wage earners’ incomes closer to a living wage. This would almost certainly make a meaningful difference to millions of South Africans in their efforts to survive, make a living and find employment. For his 2020 Democratic candidacy for the US presidential elections, Andrew Yang put forward as his signature policy proposal […]

Fact Check: Actually, the Trump Economy is Benefitting the Very People Democrats Claim It Isn’t

Fact Check: Actually, the Trump Economy is Benefitting the Very People Democrats Claim It Isn't

One of the trickier bits of political positioning facing Democrats this cycle is how to talk about the American economy. By nearly every metric, it’s performing quite well. Unemployment is low, growth is pretty strong, wages are rising, the stock market is up — and we’re in the midst of the longest overall US economic expansion in recorded history. Roughly 70 percent of voters are optimistic about both their personal financial situation and the national picture , and a relatively unpopular president consistently earns his highest marks on this issue, which happens to be at the top of the […]

Unpleasant consequences of technological changes

Unpleasant consequences of technological changes

Santosh Kumar Dash

Change is good. At least that is what we believe when it comes to technology which makes yesterday’s technology obsolete. If you have Ola/Uber, Swiggy/Zomato, Paytm/FreeCharge/PhonePe, and Flipkart/Amazon in your smartphone, life becomes easy. But such disruptive technological changes too have unpleasant effects.

First, it leads to rise in unemployment. Nobel prize-winning economist, Joseph E Stiglitz believes that rapid technological changes pose bigger challenges to employment creation in short to medium-run. Low-skilled workers face biggest risks in future as firms around the globe adopt new-age technologies like automation, artificial intelligence, robots and e-commerce firms. They challenged brick […]

Automation holds opportunities and risks for women workers

Automation holds opportunities and risks for women workers

Automation and technological advances could unlock unprecedented opportunities for women, according to a recent McKinsey & Company study. Failing to take advantage of automation transition opportunities, however, could mean greater gender inequality in the future of work.

In their latest research, McKinsey Global Institute examined six mature economies (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and US) and four emerging economies (China, India, Mexico, and South Africa), which together make up half the world’s population and 60% of global GDP.

According to the research, 40 million to 160 million women (7-24%) will potentially need to transition between occupations by 2030 – […]

10 facts about expansion

10 facts about expansion

A man walks in downtown Miami. Ten-straight years of growth. Unemployment at a five-decade low. Higher wages for the poorest workers. The economic expansion that just became America’s longest on record didn’t produce an especially fast pace of growth. It didn’t narrow the vast gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else. AP

Ten straight years of growth. Unemployment at a five-decade low. Higher wages for the poorest workers.

The economic expansion that just became America’s longest on record didn’t produce an especially fast pace of growth. It didn’t narrow the vast gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone […]

Plentiful jobs but slow growth: 10 facts about the expansion

Plentiful jobs but slow growth: 10 facts about the expansion

Ten straight years of growth. Unemployment at a five-decade low. Higher wages for the poorest workers.

The economic expansion that just became America’s longest on record didn’t produce an especially fast pace of growth. It didn’t narrow the vast gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else.

But the expansion has lasted so long and it followed such a disastrous recession that it would be easy to overlook how much healthier the economy has become.We’re giving away 4 tickets to The Magic of Taylor Reed , 4 tickets to the Main Street Lake Cruises , and a two night stay at […]

Louisiana especially vulnerable to automation

Louisiana especially vulnerable to automation

An Oxford Economics report says Louisiana is one of the states most vulnerable to losing a significant amount of jobs due to automation.

The report says Louisiana is particularly vulnerable to the robotics revolution due to it’s status as a “low-skill” region that relies on manufacturing and service jobs. UNO Business Professor Mark Rosa.

“Anybody who is going to lose their job to a robot substitute, that’s usually entry level work, or something that can be done repetitively by a machine.”Oregon is most at risk, followed by Louisiana, Texas, and Indiana.But that loss may not be felt as much in tourism […]

4IR: The good, the bad and the inequality gap

4IR: The good, the bad and the inequality gap

On the brighter side, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will create many new jobs that do not exist today, says the writer. (Image: Franck V. / Unsplash) The Fourth Industrial Revolution is an unstoppable force that will have a profound impact on the world. While it will undoubtedly bring many benefits, we must beware it does not increase the already huge gulf between South Africa’s haves and have-nots.

Whether for good or bad, we are on the path of a technological revolution that is radically shaping the way in which we relate to the world and to one another. […]

Robots Will Take Jobs—Lots of Them—But May Not Be A Bogeymen

Robots Will Take Jobs—Lots of Them—But May Not Be A Bogeymen

It’s human nature for people to over-react to reports on trends, particularly in a divided time in America when everyone is looking for political or at least polemic fodder in every new study that comes out about how quickly life is changing.

Count reactions to the “robot revolution” among these extreme responses. Every week or so, it seems, an estimable think tank comes forth with a new prognostication about how the rise of robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other technological disruptions in manufacturing are going to ravage the global work force and unleash millions of new panhandlers […]

Plentiful jobs but slow growth: 10 facts about the expansion

FILE- In this June 12, 2019, file photo a man walks in downtown Miami. Ten straight years of growth. Unemployment at a five-decade low. Higher wages for the poorest workers. The economic expansion that just became America’s longest on record didn’t produce an especially fast pace of growth. It didn’t narrow the vast gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else. (Brynn Anderson, File/Associated Press) WASHINGTON — Ten straight years of growth. Unemployment at a five-decade low. Higher wages for the poorest workers.

The economic expansion that just became America’s longest on record didn’t produce an especially fast pace of […]