Ask HN: Any good books on the economic impact of automation?

1 points by Wonnk13 9y ago ↗ HN

Within my tech circles I keep hearing talk of a "universal basic income" in regards to the oncoming wave of AI and automation where not only blue collar but also white collar jobs are made redundant.

Are there any economists who are writing on this topic? Politicians keep talking about bringing back "manufacturing" but no one is talking about AI and what the labor market will look like a hundred years from now.

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SharpSightLabs 9y ago ↗

1. Race Against the Machine by Brynjolfsson and McAfee

2. The Second Machine Age by Brynjolfsson and McAfee

3. The Lights in the Tunnel by Martin Ford

4. Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford

5. Average is Over by Tyler Cowen -specifically, the parts about labor market bifurcation and man-machine pairs

Brynjolfsson and McAfee are MIT economists. Top notch. Cowen is also an excellent economist at George Mason.

Wonnk13 9y ago ↗

Thank you, i'll take a look at these. I've read Average is Over and will probably buy his new book in Feb. as well.

petra 9y ago ↗

I think Brian Hanson did good work on looking that far.

But looking ahead 100 years isn't really withing the reach of economists.