Peggy Noonan is asking if we can “Survive” the AI revolution? Her skepticism about Silicon Valley has her predicting that a tendency to isolate will grow with AI, that “It will pull people away from each other, and into friendship with and dependence on itself.” Noonan’s prediction raises a seemingly unrelated question. Why are […]
It’s Not Fair To Peggy Noonan’s People To Slow AI’s Arrival Read More »
Ronald Reagan’s father lost his job on Christmas Eve. It’s a reminder of how different things used to be. Since life was so much more uncertain over 100 years ago for the average American, it’s no surprise that life was equally, if not more uncertain for those who employed the average American. Is it
The Bigger, Paradoxically Compassionate Meaning In Meta’s Layoffs Read More »
An insatiable American work ethic is what attracts immigrants to the United States. So, when Americans lament the arrival of would-be workers, they’re in a very real sense yelling at themselves. Work begets work. The excellent Barton Swaim has written in various ways that what turned the 2024 presidential election was electorate unhappiness on
An Unrivaled American Work Ethic Is a Powerful Immigrant Magnet Read More »
The ambitious of all stripes flock to where the economic growth is. Which is no insight. Where growth is greatest, so are wages. Consider what you’ve just read in relation to the photo attached to this opinion piece. It was taken by a colleague outside of a restaurant in Palo Alto, CA. Where wealth is
Palo Alto’s Help Wanted Signs Tell Ignored Economic Truths Read More »
You would have felt lazy, and likely viewed as pathetic and stupid if you were alive in 1825. Why? Because 200 years ago your work options were almost certainly limited to farm drudgery six days a week, dawn to dusk. The truth about how life used to be is useful to think about in
There Are No Lazy or Stupid People, There’s Just a Lack of Progress Read More »
“It’s not about driving down the cost of labor.” Those are the words of Lorenzo Pautasso, general manager of RobCo’s U.S. office. Pautasso conveyed them to Farah Stockman of the New York Times. He was making it clear that robots in no way threaten the jobs of existing workers, rather they solidify them. Henry Ford vivified
With Each Passing Day, Robots Are Enhancing the Value of Workers Read More »
Basic income guarantees won’t define the future, opposite the predictions of more than a few AI visionaries. That’s because what replaces human effort does so by powerfully raising the productive value of human beings. Machines and robots that will do for us and think for us won’t make us useless any more than extra
The End of Laziness Will Run Roughshod Over Income Guarantees Read More »
There’s no retirement crisis. Those promoting the notion that Americans don’t have enough money to retire will eventually regret their expressed pessimism. Contemplate the happy fact that LeBron James recently announced a plan to return for his 23rd NBA season. James’s decision helps expose the flaw in a “retirement crisis” narrative that just won’t die.
There’s No ‘Retirement Crisis,’ LeBron James Shows Why Read More »
Immigration to the U.S. is by its name a wage positive. It’s tautological. Higher wages are what instigate immigration, so to pretend as some do that the arrival of immigrants pushes down wages implies that the purest of market signal of all (the migration of humans) is a stupid one. No, not likely. More
Love or Hate Immigrants, They Do Not Drive Down Wages Read More »
Who was Norm Peterson? You’re aging yourself if you know the answer to the question. More realistically, you aged yourself by clicking on an opinion piece with “Norm Peterson” in the title. About what’s been written so far, rest assured that none of it is meant to tell readers about a show that they
Cheers, There Will Never Be Another Norm Peterson Read More »
