MIT Technology Review – “Two books explore the price we’ve paid in handing over unprecedented power to Big Tech—and explain why it’s imperative we start taking it back. The internet loves a good neologism, especially if it can capture a purported vibe shift or explain a new trend. In 2013, the columnist Adrian Wooldridge coined… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Economy
Inescapable AI
A Report from TechTonic Justice – Inescapable AI The Ways AI Decides How Low-Income People Work, Live, Learn, and Survive – “The use of artificial intelligence, or AI, by governments, landlords, employers, and other powerful private interests restricts the opportunities of low-income people in every basic aspect of life: at home, at work, in school,… Continue Reading
Social media needs (dumpster) fire exits
Pluralistic: “Of course you should do everything you can to prevent fires – and also, you should build fire exits, because no matter how hard to you try, stuff burns. That includes social media sites. Social media has its own special form of lock-in: we use social media sites to connect with friends, family members,… Continue Reading
Trump Advisers Seek to Shrink or Eliminate Bank Regulators
WSJ via MSN – Trump Advisers Seek to Shrink or Eliminate Bank Regulators – “The Trump transition team has started to explore pathways to dramatically shrink, consolidate or even eliminate the top bank watchdogs in Washington. In recent interviews with potential nominees to lead bank regulatory agencies, Trump advisers and officials from his newfound Department of… Continue Reading
How Wall Street Billionaires Avoid Paying Medicare Taxes
ProPublica – Reporting Highlights Tax Dodge: Most working Americans have to pay Medicare taxes, but some of the richest figures on Wall Street have found a way to opt out, a ProPublica investigation found. Accidental Loophole: Nearly 50 years ago, Congress tried to fix one financial abuse but unwittingly created an obscure loophole that these… Continue Reading
The Origin of Delay, Deny, Defend
Kottke: “The Origin of Delay, Deny, Defend – In the wake of the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, a book published in 2010 by Rutgers Law professor Jay Feinman has hit the bestseller charts: Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The book’s title is a reference to… Continue Reading
The short-term impact of AI adoption on firm productivity
Toronto Metropolitan University – The Dais – Waiting For Takeoff, December 2024: “Executive Summary – Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most discussed technology of recent years. Advocates promise that it will help overcome productivity challenges and radically transform the economy through increased wage gains and higher economic output, among other benefits. This conversation about the… Continue Reading
Quits and layoffs
Data is Plural: “Minneapolis Fed–affiliated economists Kathrin Ellieroth and Amanda Michaud have constructed a new dataset on monthly quits and layoffs. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) microdata going back to 1978, the dataset estimates the proportions of employees who, after quitting or being laid off, transition to unemployment versus exiting the labor market. In a… Continue Reading
Dow Jones negotiates AI usage agreements with nearly 4,000 news publishers
NiemanLab: “…Last month, Factiva announced it had signed generative AI usage agreements with nearly 4,000 publishers around the world. The agreements are for the business intelligence platform and news database, which houses articles by online outlets, newspapers, magazines, and transcripts of radio shows. Among the thousands of publishers who signed the agreements are The Associated… Continue Reading
Why is printer ink so expensive?
Digital Rights Bytes – “Few liquids are more precious than printer ink, but that’s not because ink is expensive to make. How can HP— and its handful of competitors in the highly concentrated printer market—get away with charging these kinds of markups? Simple: It’s a combination of monopoly power, wacky laws, and consumer-hostile tech… So… Continue Reading
Plastic Pollution and Policy Considerations: Frequently Asked Questions
CRS – Plastic Pollution and Policy Considerations: Frequently Asked Questions, December 5, 2024. “Global and domestic plastic production has increased substantially since the mid-20th century—doubling in the last two decades. The durability, moldability, and versatility of plastic have led to its ubiquitous use, benefiting many aspects of society, including the food, medical, technology, textile, and… Continue Reading
CREAT: Census Research Exploration and Analysis Tool
The Census Research Exploration and Analysis Tool CREAT is a data tool from the Center for Economic Studies (CES) at the US Census Bureau that uses natural language processing and artificial intelligence tools to analyze, categorize, and sort the economic research contained in the CES working paper series. The goal of this project is to… Continue Reading
