The Alienation of Work
The emerging economy is opening up new ways to reconnect workers to their work and the profits from their work. One of the most striking blind spots in our collective angst over the lack of jobs is our...
View ArticleThe Changing Nature of Middle Class Work
As a result of profound systemic changes, new models of work are emerging. Gordon T. Long and I recently discussed the changing nature of work–specifically, work that can support a middle class...
View ArticleThe Old Models of Work Are Broken
The only sustainable way to avoid being commoditized is to learn to create value in ways that cannot be commoditized. Though we are still in the early stages of web-enabled automation, it’s already...
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Automation Doesn’t Just Destroy Jobs–It Destroys Profits, Too
The idea that taxing the owners of robots and software will fund guaranteed incomes for all is not anchored in reality. Automation is upending the global order by eliminating human labor on an...
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The Flaws in Basic Income for Everyone
Finland made the news recently by proposing a pilot program of guaranteed income for all, also known as Universal Basic Income: Desperate Finland Set To Unleash Helicopter Money Drop To All Citizens....
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The World of Work Has Changed, and It’s Never Going Back to the “Good Old Days”
The world of work has changed, and the rate of change is increasing. Despite the hopes of those who want to turn back the clock to the golden era of high-paying, low-skilled manufacturing jobs and an...
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How to Escape the Purgatory of Minimum Wage/Part-Time Jobs
Readers responded positively to my recent essay on the emerging economy and jobs: A Teachable Moment: to the Young Person Who Complained About Her Job/Pay at Yelp and Was Promptly Fired Many young...
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How Can Older Workers Compete in an Economy That Values Youth?
Workers of all ages are caught in a vise. Older workers need to keep working longer in an economy which values younger workers (and their cheaper healthcare premiums). Younger workers are caught in the...
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Work Won’t Be Scarce–It’s Paid Work That Will Be Scarce
All the media chatter about work disappearing due to automation fails to draw the critical distinction between useful but unpaid work and profitable work.Since value (and profits/wages) flow to what’s...
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Crisis of Meaning = Crisis of Work
Allow me to connect two apparently unconnected dots. Dot #1: The last sugar plantation in Hawaii is closing down, ending more than a century of plantation life in the 50th state. Dot #2: a new study...
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