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Archive for the ‘economics’ category: Page 139

Feb 9, 2018

China formulates new policies for autonomous cars in bid to catch up to US

Posted by in categories: economics, robotics/AI, transportation

The latest sign of regulatory support comes two months after Beijing became the country’s first city to green light open road test for autonomous cars. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency, also unveiled a three-year plan in December, making the development of smart cars a national priority.


The latest sign of national regulatory support comes two months after Beijing became the country’s first city to green light open road test for self driving cars.

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Feb 2, 2018

The Case for Free Money

Posted by in categories: economics, government, robotics/AI

A major conservative publication, The Weekly Standard, has published a positive Cover story about Basic Income, as a way to reign in entitlements and deal with automation. My California libertarian governor campaign gets a brief mention in it. Over 100,000 print copies out this week.


At first blush, universal basic income sounds like something dreamed up on a California commune or in a late-night college bull session. The idea: Just give people money. Ask nothing in return. Impose no requirement to work or to look for work. And don’t just give taxpayer money to people living in poverty, give it to everybody—from gazillionaire to gig-worker—no questions asked.

Yet universal basic income is an idea that is having its moment. Enthusiasm for a government-guaranteed income for all seems to be percolating across the country. Groups backed by Silicon Valley luminaries are forming to devise political strategies. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign flirted with the idea.

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Jan 23, 2018

Robots could take your job — but you can retrain to find a better one, says WEF report — By Alan Tovey | The Telegraph

Posted by in categories: disruptive technology, economics

The latest research focused on the impact the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” — digital and traditional technology coming together to deliver efficiencies that will mean more jobs can be automated — will have on employment in the US.”

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Jan 22, 2018

Towards a Reskilling Revolution January 2018 Report | World Economic Forum

Posted by in categories: economics, education

” … [W]hile there has been much forecasting on transformations in labour markets, few practical approaches exist to identifying reskilling and job transition opportunities. Towards a Reskilling Revolution: A Future of Jobs for All provides a valuable new tool that will help individual workers, companies, and governments to prioritize their actions and investments.”

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Jan 22, 2018

A world of free movement would be $78 trillion richer | The Economist

Posted by in categories: economics, governance

“To clarify, “open borders” means that people are free to move to find work. It does not mean “no borders” or “the abolition of the nation-state”. On the contrary, the reason why migration is so attractive is that some countries are well-run and others, abysmally so.”

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Jan 22, 2018

Open borders: the long-term perks and pitfalls | The Economist

Posted by in categories: economics, governance

“Open borders could see global GDP rocket, but free movement around the world could have its downsides. We imagine a borderless world”

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Jan 22, 2018

Inequality gap widens as ‘world’s richest 1% get 82% of the wealth,’ Oxfam says

Posted by in categories: business, economics, policy

Oxfam said its figures, which some observers have criticized, showed economic rewards were “increasingly concentrated” at the top. The charity cited tax evasion, the erosion of worker’s rights, cost-cutting and businesses’ influence on policy decisions as reasons for the widening inequality gap.


Just 42 people own the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 percent worldwide, a new study by global charity Oxfam claimed.

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Jan 20, 2018

Space mining is going to seriously disrupt Earth’s economy. And we’re nowhere near ready for the shock

Posted by in categories: economics, space

In the coming decades, the mining of precious minerals in space is likely to have a major impact on the global economy. And existing laws are nowhere near ready for the shift.

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Jan 17, 2018

At less than 1% of GDP, India’s spend on R&D continues to be less than other emerging economies

Posted by in category: economics

As compared to India, other BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa — had spent more of their GDP on research. Most of the developed countries, in fact, spent more than 2 per cent of their GDP on R&D.


India’s gross research spending has consistently been increasing over the years but the country’s total expenditure on R&D continues to be less than 1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) when other emerging economies, including China and Brazil, invest more money on this head.

Representative image Representative image.

Continue reading “At less than 1% of GDP, India’s spend on R&D continues to be less than other emerging economies” »

Jan 16, 2018

Cryptocurency: Thoughts on a “Korea Krash”

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics

If you are reading this on January 16, 2018, then you are aware that Bitcoin (and the exchange rate of most other coins) fell by 20% today. Whenever I encounter a panic sell-off, the first thing that I do is try to ascertain if the fear that sparked the drop is rational.

But what is rational fear? How can you tell if this is the beginning of the end, or simply a transient dip? In my book, rational fears are fundamental facts like these:

  • A new technical flaw is discovered in the math or mining
  • A very major hack or theft has undermined confidence
  • The potential for applications that are fast, fluid and ubiquitous
    has dropped, based on new information*

Conspicuously missing from this list is “government bans” or any regulation that is unenforceable, because it fails to account for the design of what it attempts to regulate. Taxes, accounting guidelines, reporting regulations are all fine! These can be enforced. But banning something that cannot be banned is not a valid reason for instilling fear in those who have a stake in a new product, process, or technology.

Continue reading “Cryptocurency: Thoughts on a ‘Korea Krash’” »