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January 25, 2024

On the Front Porch with Brent Orrell and Tony Pipa: A Conversation with Nicholas F. Jacobs

On January 25, AEI’s Brent Orrell and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa hosted the first of a series of conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America. Mr. Orrell and Mr. Pipa spoke with Nicholas F. Jacobs, the author of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America, a recent book that examines the state…

January 22, 2024

Can Workforce Development Programs Improve Labor Force Participation?

Harry Holzer, a Senior Fellow at Brookings and a key contributor to AEI’s Workforce Futures Initiative (WFI), published a recent analysis of the potential of the publicly-funded US workforce system to reduce unemployment and boost labor force participation. To my mind, he makes a strong argument for increasing basic supports for work engagement as a way of getting chronically…

January 12, 2024

Get Ready for AI-Driven Skill Democratization

For decades, automation has been a rough road for middle-skill workers. These jobs used to provide plentiful, family-supporting employment opportunities for those with only a high school education or even less. Robotics and, to a lesser extent, trade dramatically reduced the number of middle-skill jobs leading to what economists called a “polarized” labor market: many high-skilled and low-skilled…

December 15, 2023

What Athletes Take off the Field

In today’s dynamic economy, the value of noncognitive skills cannot be overstated. While technical know-how and academic knowledge remain crucial, there is an increasing recognition of the role that skills like teamwork, resilience, and strategic thinking play in professional success. A fascinating area where these skills are intensively cultivated is athletics. Especially at competitive levels, sports serve as…

December 14, 2023

Perspective: What Flexibility Means for Younger Workers — and Their Employers

Just about all workers say they want flexibility. But older and younger workers differ on what this means. As we think about the future of work, it’s clear that workers need to have the skills to help them adapt to rapidly changing technology. Many of the jobs today’s young adults occupy didn’t exist 50 years…

December 4, 2023

A Pro-Market and Pro-Social Economy

In The Next American Economy (2022), Samuel Gregg provides a refreshing defense of free markets, emphasizing the need to frame the case for economic liberty within a broader narrative about America’s values and identity. We need this book to help reframe the disagreement over trade protectionism and industrial policy. Gregg opens by examining the alignment between former President Donald Trump and Senator Elizabeth Warren on the need for greater government regulation of the economy….

November 27, 2023

How AI with “Theory of Mind” Could Help in the Workplace

The practical advantages of machines better at interpreting, explaining, and anticipating human actions. Recent advances in artificial intelligence demonstrate its growing, and somewhat surprising, potential to imitate sophisticated reasoning tasks previously thought to be reserved to human beings. A new study from researchers at Google, Google DeepMind, the University of Southern California, the University of Chicago, and Carnegie Mellon University reveals progress in developing an…

November 16, 2023

Work in a World of Abundance

AEI’s Michael Strain contends that, at least for the next several decades, it is highly unlikely that artificial intelligence (AI) will all but eliminate human jobs. This is largely due to the “creative” side of creative destruction. Innovation creates wealth, wealth creates demand, demand spurs employment. The amount of work to be done always increases. Over the…

November 6, 2023

Upskilling from the Top

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues its rapid advance, upskilling is shifting from a luxury good to a necessity for almost all workers. Traditionally, upskilling efforts have focused on frontline and production staff. That approach is unlikely to work when it comes to AI. To reap the benefits of this technology, we need commitments at all…

November 3, 2023

The Biden AI Executive Order: Dark Brandon or Uncle Joe?

President Biden’s executive order this week on artificial intelligence (AI) brings to mind his split media personality, which consists of the avuncular “Uncle Joe” and the more Machiavellian “Dark Brandon.” This bifurcated political personality has the advantage of keeping his opponents guessing, but in the case of the EO, it creates a policy jumble that is going…