Industrial Change And Employment Opportunity

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.

Fifty years ago the quality of life in the 13 states of the Old South was judged to be among the lowest in the country. A lack of industrial development and the pervasiveness of a sharecropping system of agricultural production combined to keep the South mired in the backwaters of the American economy. Over the past five decades, however, the South has moved to the forefront as an area of economic growth. The authors show that significant improvements have taken place almost entirely in and around the major cities. Rural areas--especially those with a high percentage of blacks --remain saddled with an economic base dominated almost entirely by slow growing, stagnating, and declining industries. The uneven development of the region is the result of a set of industrial policies in which communities attempt to lure prospective employers with lucrative business incentive packages. Guarantees of cheap, unorganized labor, tax holidays and giveaways of land and buildings are some of the 'chips' community leaders use in this high stakes game. Rural communities are often caught in bidding wars among themselves in which they are forced to offer even more lucrative incentives and in the process reallocate resources away from needed human services. Consequently, Falk and Lyson target the need for a national industrial policy that will bring some order to the industrial recruitment process.

Study of the future impact of technological change on employment and its implications for postindustrial society - considers unemployment trends, and the potential of the industrial sector, service sector and public sector for employment creation; claims that economic growth and higher productivity will not ensure full employment; argues for a work attitude that dissociates income from work, and for employment policies, fiscal policies and subsidies to expand employment opportunity; draws examples from the UK. References, statistical tables.