The past twenty years of digitization have unleashed deep-seated fear in the labor market. Many of our daily activities, from entertainment to shopping, have been transformed and upgraded. Yet productivity growth remains weak, wage growth has been tepid, inequality has increased, and automation and artificial intelligence threaten to render many jobs obsolete.
Despite the gloomy outlook, Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute argues that the rise of the Internet has created more jobs than it destroys. In many ways, he believes that the next 20 years may look a lot like the first half of the 20th century, when industrialization boosted overall growth and generating many high-paying middle-skilled jobs, while facing governments with the problem of managing economic turmoil and helping the people left behind.
Many key questions remain unanswered. Digitization would be expected to increase productivity. Yet significant productivity growth is missing – a puzzle to researchers considering the high rate of innovation. Why? How should we regulate the sharing economy? How should we train workers for the digital transformation?
Come discuss these crucial issues with Dr. Mandel.
Presentation:
Dr. Micheal Mandel, How Internet Creates More Jobs than It Destroys: The Example of Ecommerce
