Bend the Trend: Reviving Unionization in America
– The Washington Post
In advance of Labor Day, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute just released a study on the importance of unions as a force to push back on inequality, wage losses and a political system that fails to represent most Americans. The Washington Post Opinion Page delves into the study.
– MIT Technology Review
The contention that America’s workers lack the skills employers demand is an article of faith among analysts, politicians, and pundits of every stripe, from conservative tax cutters to liberal advocates of job training. The MIT Technology review purports that the idea that American workers are being left in the dust because they lack technological savvy does not stand up to scrutiny.
Facebook, Amazon Become Weapons in Restaurant-Ordering Arms Race
– Advertising Age
The cutthroat restaurant industry is getting increasingly aggressive about technology, enlisting Facebook and Amazon in their race to make it easier for customers to order and pay for their food. Last month, TGI Fridays began letting customers foot the bill using their Amazon accounts. Pizza chains are locked in an escalating battle to adopt new ordering methods — a contest that involves chat bots, voice-activated devices and social networks.
Tax the Rich and The Robots? California’s Thinking About It
– Wired
Depending on whom you ask, robots and artificial intelligence are either coming to take your job, or you’re perfectly safe, at least for the near future. Truth is, automation always has and always will put people out of work. Included among those folks is San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim, who Wednesday launched a campaign called the Jobs of the Future Fund to study a statewide “payroll” tax on job-stealing machines. Proceeds from the tax would bankroll things like job retraining, free community college, or perhaps a universal basic income — countermeasures Kim thinks might make a robotic future more bearable for humans.