by Sam on November 28, 2011
If you simply read the headlines, you’d think that the economy — or at least spending by the average consumer — is on the comeback:
Thanksgiving Day saw an 18% increase in online spending to $479 million.
U.S. consumers have spent $12.7 billion already in the first 25 days of the November to December 2011 holiday season, up 15% from the corresponding days last year.
Sounds good, until you remember that the income gap is real and the average consumer doesn’t matter so much in the broader context:
When discussing “the consumer,” it is important to remember that in reality, “the consumer” is the top 20% of income earners and then everybody else. The top 20% of income earners (who own about 80-90% of the equity market) account for about 40-45% of all spending in the economy.
via Business Insider and TechCrunch
by Sam on September 18, 2011
During my weekend readings I came across two snippets that present an interesting take on what the future of work holds. I’m fascinated by the future of work and I’m glad to see some refreshingly unique perspectives on what to expect in terms of evolution…
First Kevin Kelly on why ‘productivity’ is a worthless metric to be optimizing for:
There is more to be gained by producing more opportunities than by optimizing existing ones.
Productivity, however, is exactly the wrong thing to care about in the new economy.
The problem with trying to measure productivity is that it measures only how well people can do the wrong jobs. Any job that can be measured for productivity probably should be eliminated from the list of jobs that people do.
In the coming era, doing the exactly right next thing is far more fruitful than doing the same thing twice.
Next, Ben Casnocha via Arnold Kling on why ‘hard-to-define’ jobs may be a sign of job security:
Generally, the harder it is to explain to someone you’ve just met at a cocktail party what it is you do on a day to day basis, the more interesting the work you’re engaged in.
Arnold Kling applies a related rule of thumb to job security:
A job seeker is looking for… a well-defined job. But the trend seems to be that if a job can be defined, it can be automated or outsourced.
The marginal product of people who need well-defined jobs is declining. The marginal product of people who can thrive in less structured environments is increasing.
