Watch a few minutes of this Bloomberg interview and I think you’ll agree he’s both sincere and well-meaning, if a bit naive about the buzzsaw he has stepped into. Definitely not a brogrammer. He reminds me of Richard Hendricks of the HBO show Silicon Valley. See also Damore vs Google: Trial of the Century? and …
In his memo, James Damore asserts that Google is engaged in illegal discriminatory practices as part of its efforts to increase diversity. (See earlier post, In the matter of James Damore, ex-Googler.) The image below is from the actual memo. Does Damore sound like a sexist brogrammer Neanderthal? OKRs = Objectives and Key Results. Damore …
The figures below are from the recent paper Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets, by Acemoglu and Restrepo. VoxEU discussion: … Estimates suggest that an extra robot per 1000 workers reduces the employment to population ratio by 0.18-0.34 percentage points and wages by 0.25-0.5%. This effect is distinct from the impacts of imports, …
I spent yesterday at this event. If you look carefully you can see Tim O’Reilly in one of the photos below. New America and Bloomberg are convening the Shift Commission on Work, Workers, and Technology to bring together a community of leaders from different disciplines — technology, business, policy, civil society, academia, and others — who want to understand …
July | 2016 | American Myths A few days ago the trash collector came along on his usual route. Typically, one person would drive while the other collected the trash bins and moved them to an automatic lift that dumped them into the truck. Afterwards, the same trash collector would deposit the empty bins on …
On my weekly visit to the MSU Libraries new book shelf, I’ve been running into books that in some way or another bring up Franklin Roosevelt and his presidency. One of my more recent finds is Professor Scott Myers-Lipton’s Ending Extreme Inequality: An Economic Bill of Rights to Eliminate Poverty (Paradigm Publishers, 2015). Myers-Lipton looks …
This graphic is from today’s NYTimes: Why American Workers Without Much Education Are Being Hammered. Aside from the human capital (education) point the figure makes, I’m a bit puzzled by the following: real per-capita GDP is probably up at least ~50% (e.g., ~2% x 23 years) over the 1990-2013 period. Where did those gains go? …
Dear <chairs>, I am resigning my Assistant Professor position at Michigan State University effective January 2nd, 2015. Sincerely, CTB. Anticipated FAQ: Why? I’m moving to UC Davis. Do you have an employment contract with UC Davis?? Nope. But I’m starting there in January, anyway. Or that’s the plan. And yes, that’s how this kind of thing happen. …
Last week, I revealed the shocking age divide in where Americans want their tax dollars spent. This week, I’d like to focus on where Democrats and Republicans agree and disagree on how American tax dollars should be spent. To recap: I’ve been working with the UT Energy Poll on their latest poll for the past …
Postdoctoral researcher (or postdoc) positions have greatly changed the past few decades. Postdocs are meant for people to gain additional research experience after completing their PhD before applying for their next job (they often have goals of becoming a professor). They usually are not paid well (with average salaries in the $40,000s, which is …
“Take creative control,” says the About page on Behance.net. There is a disconnect between creative individuals and the employers that seek their talent. Part of the Adobe family, Behance is an innovative site utilized by creative professionals that aims to not only help construct their portfolios, but also to showcase their work for employers. When …
You open your email and the first thing you see is, “congrats on landing the internship.” You jump for joy and began to prepare for an amazing summer with your dream company. Many questions and awkward moments will come up, how you find answers and deal with these moments are critical. Hercampus.com suggests “8 things …
After reading assorted articles about a looming crisis in the supply of qualified STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) graduates, today LinkedIn pointed me to an article on the IEEE Spectrum site titled “The STEM Crisis Is a Myth“. It seems to be cogent and fairly well researched, but I’m not sure I entirely buy the …