A historical collection of our writing.
As I argued in my last post, there is good reason to believe that computers are substitutes for labor in general. Their apparent complementarity with skilled labor was the result of substituting skilled labor for unskilled labor rather than being based on a fundamental technological […] Read more (opens Continuations in a new tab)
Earlier this week I posted about production functions which must have felt very dry but I promise there is a payoff (terms defined in the previous post are linked). Let’s consider a production function with three factors: computers, skilled labor and unskilled labor. What we are interested in […] Read more (opens Continuations in a new tab)
So I have been meaning to write more about what is happening to labor and capital as we transition from industrial society to information society. To do that well I need lay some groundwork first though by talking about the idea of a production function. A function as you may recall from math is […] Read more (opens Continuations in a new tab)
In Washington DC today the FCC will meet to consider a notice of proposed rule making that has the potential for creating fast lanes, slow lanes and no lanes for your Internet access at home. I have blogged a lot about why this matters and what you can do about it. At Continuations I am […] Read more (opens Continuations in a new tab)
Yesterday I wrote about the depressing lack of engineers and scientists in government. Part of my point was that more than ever we are facing problems caused by and solvable with science and engineering. A sampling of stories from yesterday / this morning is the perfect illustration. The New York […] Read more (opens Continuations in a new tab)
When I first started talking to Dina who is helping me with research, I explained that I consider myself a technology optimist. By which I mean that I am optimistic that over time we the human species will figure out how to use technology to make things better. Dina rightly challenged me to define […] Read more (opens Continuations in a new tab)
