deep change in tech and economy

Professor Nicholas Crafts, director of the Research Centre on Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy at the University of Warwick in England, notes that for the typical European country 90 percent of the R&D that contributes to productivity growth is conducted abroad. Analysis: Euro zone strugglers lack innovative knack | Reuters

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By 1931 unemployment was already around 16 percent, and it reached 23 percent in 1932. Shantytown “Hoovervilles” were springing up everywhere. The underlying cause was a structural change in the real economy: the widespread decline in agricultural prices and incomes, caused by what is ordinarily a “good thing”—greater productivity. Business cycles: Lessons of the 1930s | The Economist

Manufacturers had to lay off workers, which further diminished demand for agricultural produce, driving down prices even more. Before long, this vicious circle affected the entire national economy. The Book of Jobs | Politics | Vanity Fair

Niall Ferguson: The 6 killer apps of prosperity - YouTube

How Technology is Recreating the 21st-century Economy - PARC, a Xerox company Arthur pioneered the modern study of positive feedbacks/ increasing returns in the economy -- in particular, their role in magnifying small, random economic events -- and this work became the basis of our understanding of the high-tech economy. Arthur is also one of the pioneers of the science of complexity. His most recent book is The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves , in which he argued that technology is self-creating (though it requires human agency to build it up and reproduce it) and evolves much like organisms evolve (though radical novelty in technology cannot be explained by the Darwinian model of variation and selection, and instead arises by combining existing elements).

It's been called the Gig Economy, Freelance Nation, the Rise of the Creative Class, and the e-conomy, with the "e" standing for electronic, entrepreneurial, or perhaps eclectic. The Freelance Surge Is the Industrial Revolution of Our Time - Sara Horowitz - Business - The Atlantic

And that cultural setup can bring into it all kinds of fundamental ideas which could have a huge effect on how society runs, how the economy works, and how our lives are put together. The Local-global Flip, Or, "the Lanier Effect" | Conversation | Edge

Global Rebellion: The Coming Chaos | Beyond The Beyond “Simply put, the immense structural inequalities of the global political economy can no longer be contained through consensual mechanisms of social control. The ruling classes have lost legitimacy; we are witnessing a breakdown of ruling-class hegemony on a world scale. (((Unless we’re hegemonic Chinese.

'Groei kan de rekening minder pijnlijk maken. Komt er een einde aan de welvaartsgroei?: De Tijd

Men, women – and machines - FT.com The rise of interconnected digital machines is threatening to change our economy in profound ways T his month, we enter the season of Goodwill to All Men (and Women).

There is no clear consensus among either academics or policy makers as to the specific causes of inequality – some point to technological change, others such as Feenstra and Hanson (1997, 1999) to the role of offshoring in boosting the demand for skilled labour, still others to regulation or corporate malfeasance. Globalisation and higher education: Different degrees of success | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

Would you really want a little Picasso in your class? How about a baby Gertrude Stein? Teachers Don’t Like Creative Students — Marginal Revolution

Twelve years in power is long enough to reverse all the trends towards greater social and economic stratification that have occurred since 1970; instead they have continued on their merry way towards segregation. Teenage pregnancy rates have begun to rise after a period of decline; there is a 30-year gap in male life expectancy between central Glasgow and parts of southern England; and child poverty won't be halved by next year after all (though it wouldn't make as much difference as making their parents more equal). There are times when the book feels rather too overwhelmingly grim. Review: The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett | Books | The Guardian

België ontsnapt aan toename ongelijkheid: De Tijd Volgens de OESO wordt de inkomensongelijkheid vooral aangewakkerd door een toenemende kloof tussen hoger en lager geschoolden. De eerste groep heeft van de technologische vooruitgang geprofiteerd, terwijl de tweede de prijs betaalde van de flexibilisering van de arbeidsmarkt.

Drawing from research across disciplines—psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, mathematics, political science, and economics—and interviews with some of the world’s most pioneering leaders, thinkers, and strategists, Harford reveals hard-won lessons learned in the field and the importance of adaptive, trial-and-error processes in tackling issues such as fostering innovation, climate change, poverty, the financial crises, and conflict. Tim Harford — Adapt