Many US economists and policymakers cling to the faith that free markets are enough to effectively drive innovation and believe that any national IT strategy would be inappropriate government meddling. Most Chinese government officials are engineers who don't get hung up on such philosophical debates: they do what works.… So it's not surprising that the World Values Survey finds 78% of Chinese residents agree that "more emphasis on the development of technology" is a good thing, compared...
Read More »Sputnik — Putin Explains Why Russia Can Afford to Spend Less on Defence
Targeted expenditure based on priorities determined by national security and aimed at neutralizing threats. In other words, defense rather than global power projection, like US-led NATO. The real expenditure, however, is not in nominal terms but with respect to allocation of real resources that are scarce, most significantly, knowledge and skill. Russia has established dominance in technological innovation in weapons development and manufacture. This requires investment in education and...
Read More »If innovators can solve India’s problems, they can save the world. Here’s why. — Nikhil Malhotra
India is a country of contrasts. It is home to a $160 billion tech services industry, while also buffeted by environmental and social challenges - and this makes it fertile ground for globally scalable, tech-driven solutions.... World Economic ForumIf innovators can solve India's problems, they can save the world. Here's why. Nikhil Malhotra
Read More »Alex Gray — China is among the 20 most innovative economies for the first time
In the last few decades, China has made huge progress in science and technology. This new age of innovation has seen the birth of ‘unicorn’ tech companies like media giant Tencent, the ‘Uber of China’ Didi Chuxing, and the world’s biggest drone builder, DJI.Now, for the first time, China has broken into the top 20 of a global list of the most innovative economies.The latest Global Innovation Index singles out China for its rapid transformation into an innovation powerhouse. It has risen...
Read More »Brad DeLong — Nikola Tesla
It is traditional to talk about Thomas Alva Edison. The most famous inventor in the world, "the wizard of Menlo Park", New Jersey, registered more than 1000 patents and founded 15 companies—including what is now called General Electric. But that story is too well-known. Let’s talk about Nicola Tesla instead.... If you look at a chart of economic growth relative to energy usage, it is understandable why Nikola Tesla is arguably the most important person in the economic history of humankind,...
Read More »Bill Mitchell — Automation and full employment – back to the 1960s
On August 19, 1964, the then US President Lyndon B. Johnson established the – National Commission on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress. He established the Commission in response to growing concern during the deep 1960-61 recession that the unemployment had been created by the pace of technological change. Ring a bell! He wanted to an inquiry to explore this issue and come up with recommendations on how to deal with the possibility that automation was wiping out jobs and the...
Read More »Caleb Maupin — Technology & The Marxism of Jack Ma
Technological innovation increases productivity, decreasing the need for human work and increasing the opportunity for leisure. It's a distribution issue. The problem is that under capitalism, gains are capitalized and losses are socialized. Under socialism, gains are socialized and losses are minimized. Who is going to win this race, those aiming at the top or those racing to the bottom?NEOTechnology & The Marxism of Jack Ma Caleb Maupin
Read More »Bhaskar Chakravorti — The “Smart Society” of the Future Doesn’t Look Like Science Fiction
Harvard Business Review The “Smart Society” of the Future Doesn’t Look Like Science Fiction Bhaskar Chakravorti | Senior Associate Dean of International Business & Finance at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and founding Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context
Read More »Emerging Technology — First Evidence That Online Dating Is Changing the Nature of Society
Not just e-commerce that's changing the world. Social networks are proliferating and expanding, and it is affecting how people meet. An obvious way to test this is through investigating online dating, for which there is ample data. Online dating sites are obviously targeted at people meeting. This has implications for many other social media venues as well. More evidence that the Internet is changing everything. Distance is shrinking, not only in terms of separation in space but also...
Read More »Asia Unhedged — Xi stresses integrated military, civilian development
During a meeting of the Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development (CCIMCD) on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance “defense, science and industry” will play in the integration of the private sector and China’s military, according to an official release from Xinhua.…“Defense science, technology and industry are key areas for integrated military and civilian development, and play a vital role in boosting the country’s innovation-driven...
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