Tag: inequality

Automation is a bigger threat, depending on race, education and where you live, among other factors

Automation is a bigger threat, depending on race, education and where you live, among other factors

Is a robot coming for your job?

That is more likely for Californians who work in Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced or Modesto, according to a report released Thursday by the Brookings Institution. Those who live in San Francisco or San Jose have a better chance of weathering a coming onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence.

The new study by the Washington think tank suggests that intelligent machines may well take over many more tasks from humans in the future. But it forecasts dramatic differences among cities, occupations, ethnic and racial groups, educational levels and age groups."California turns out to have super-stark […]

Technology and robots will shake labour policies in Asia and the world

Technology and robots will shake labour policies in Asia and the world

Developing countries must begin seriously considering how technological changes will impact labour trends. In the 21st century, governments cannot ignore how changes in technology will affect employment and political stability.

The automation of work – principally through robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of things (IoT), collectively known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution – will provide an unprecedented boost to productivity and profit. It will also threaten the stability of low- and mid-skilled jobs in many developing and middle-income countries. From labour to automation

Developing countries must begin seriously considering how technological changes will impact labour trends. Technology now […]

The Doomed Fallacy of Jobs and Growth (Part 2)

The Doomed Fallacy of Jobs and Growth (Part 2)

Jobs. You just have to say the word and objections to anything seem to evaporate. A slight lift in the employment figure and the nation breathes a sigh of relief. But why, in a time of rapid automation, does work still dominate our thinking? In Part 2 of this series (you can read Part 1 here ), Mike Dowson challenges our assumptions about jobs.

If you arrived from outer space, and plugged a human language translator into Earth’s chatter, you’d probably notice something odd. It appears we humans believe our well-being depends on the possession of a ‘job’.

This might […]

“Lean In” and 8 Other Bad Business Buzzwords

“Lean In” and 8 Other Bad Business Buzzwords

A take on some of the key features of the bad business utopias that are busy colonizing the future. Photo by Morsa Images/Getty Images The near future is more likely to be a neoliberal dystopia than the tech-enabled utopia conjured up by big business, writes Peter Fleming in The Worst Is Yet to Come: A Post-Capitalist Survival Guide . He argues that we need “radical pessimism” to aim for the future we actually want, and aids the effort with sardonic humor that skewers the mythologies of our exploitative economic system.

In 1949, the right-wing economist F. A. Hayek published […]

What The Future Of Work Means For Cities

What The Future Of Work Means For Cities

George Jetson at work NOTE: This is an excerpt of Planet Money’s newsletter. You can sign up here .

Two weeks ago, MIT’s David Autor gave the prestigious Richard T. Ely lecture at the annual meeting of American economists in Atlanta. Introduced by the former chair of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke as a "first-class thinker" who was doing "path-breaking" work on the central economic issues of automation , globalization , and inequality , Autor strolled up to the microphone with a big smile. His talk was about the past and future of work, and he focused especially on […]

Opinion: Automation and our jobs

What’s next in automation as Missouri minimum wage increases?

Missouri’s minimum wage will increase to $8.60 per hour in January, thanks to the voter-approved Proposition B that appeared on the November ballot. The increase is part of a four-year escalator that will raise the minimum wage to $12/hour in 2023 for non-exempt employees.

Proponents argue it’s time to increase the minimum wage to help those on the low end of the economic spectrum, closing the gap in income inequality. Opponents suggest raising the minimum wage leads to fewer jobs that less expensive automation could accomplish.The Show-Me Institute, a politically conservative think […]

When It Comes to Robots Taking Jobs, Are We Asking the Right Questions?

When It Comes to Robots Taking Jobs, Are We Asking the Right Questions?

If they had feelings, you’d probably pity poor Waymo’s cars. The autonomous driving company ’s test vehicles have become an incredibly common target for vandalism, with human drivers running them off the road and other people slashing tires and flinging rocks. In the two years that they’ve been in operation, police say there have been at least 21 such incidents, reported Arizona Central late last year. That’s almost once a month.

It’s an elegant metaphor for an enduring dilemma facing technologists: People seem to fear the innovations that are not only supposed to make our lives easier, but free us […]

The World Bank Says Robots Aren’t Killing Jobs Yet. Don’t Listen To It.

The World Bank Says Robots Aren't Killing Jobs Yet. Don’t Listen To It.

Photo: Natalie Behring / Getty The World Bank has released its annual World Development Repor t, and the headline news this go round, as relayed by Bloomberg and others , is basically that “Robots Aren’t Killing Jobs.” Which, good news, if true.

“This fear that robots have eliminated jobs—this fear is not supported by the evidence so far,” the World Bank’s Chief Economist, Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, told Bloomberg . More specifically, the report notes that for every job that’s been lost, new ones have been created. “This is the fourth industrial revolution, there have been three before, and in each […]

$15 Minimum Wage Is Bad News for Working Class Americans, Says Andy Puzder

$15 Minimum Wage Is Bad News for Working Class Americans, Says Andy Puzder

By Michael Teich

Restaurants across the country are facing higher labor costs and minimum wage hikes, and that could spell doom not only for the businesses themselves, but also for working class Americans, according to former CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder.

"People believe they are helping the working poor, but in fact, you’re actually hurting them," Puzder told Cheddar on Friday.The call for a $15 minimum wage has been an intensely debated topic. Proponents claim it’s necessary to help workers meet their basic cost of living needs and shrink the income inequality gap, while critics argue hiking wages too high […]

The future of work in sub-Saharan Africa

The future of work in sub-Saharan Africa

African youth in agriculture Sierra Leone Telegraph: 17 December 2018:

A recent IMF strategy paper says that “Far-reaching changes in technology, climate, and global economic integration are transforming the world of work in ways that we do not yet fully understand.”

The authors of the paper ask: Will the swift technological advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution raise the standards of living for everyone? Or will robots massively displace workers leading to a jobless future where only a few benefit from the fruits of innovation?Will mitigation efforts be able to cushion the adverse effects of climate change, including food shortages and […]