Podcast appearances and mentions of Robert D Atkinson

There is a clear linkage between technology and national security, economic strength and social stability. Rob and Jackie sit down with Alex Capri, author of Techno-Nationalism: How It's Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics and Society to discuss how nations leverage technological innovation for national security and stability and how that applies to evolving United States-China competition.MentionedAlex Capri, Techno-Nationalism: How It's Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics and Society, (Wiley, December 2024).Orville Schell and John Delury, Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century, (Random House, July 2013).Robert D. Atkinson, “Liberation Day: Explaining Trump's Tariffs,” (ITIF, April 2025)

Hi Technically Human Listeners! After a long summer break we are back with a brand season and brand new episodes of the show! To kick off the season, we are bringing you an episode that I'm calling “agree to disagree,” with two guests, Robert D. Atkinson and David Moschella, who join me to argue that the critiques of tech circulating in our environment are full of “myths and scapegoats.” That's the title of their new book, “Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy,” published this year by Pallgrave McMillan. The book argues that our era of tech critique, and the impetus for regulation that many critics advocate for and recommend, is misguided, and that our era is one of general pessimism toward AI, in which our society largely overlooks the benefits of this technology. In their words, quote, “These attitudes both reduce the enthusiasm for innovation and the efforts by government needed to spur it.” Well, as the title of the episode suggests, agree to disagree, both on the facts and the merits of the argument! A key component of this show is my commitment to talking to people with whom I disagree, and foregrounding civil discourse with people whose ideas differ from my own. My hope is that you, the listeners, can weigh out their arguments against my own and see where you land. As always, if you have thoughts about the show, please get in touch! Robert D. Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). He is an internationally recognized scholar and a widely published author whom The New Republic has named one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation,” Washingtonian Magazine has called a “tech titan,” Government Technology Magazine has judged to be one of the 25 top “doers, dreamers and drivers of information technology,” and the Wharton Business School has given the “Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award.” A sought-after speaker and valued adviser to policymakers around the world, Atkinson's books include Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024); Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Mythology of Small Business (MIT Press, 2018); Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale, 2012); Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics is the Answer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006); and The Past And Future Of America's Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). President Clinton appointed Atkinson to the Commission on Workers, Communities, and Economic Change in the New Economy; the Bush administration appointed him chair of the congressionally created National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission; the Obama administration appointed him to the National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy Advisory Board; as co-chair of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's China-U.S. Innovation Policy Experts Group; to the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and the Trump administration appointed him to the G7 Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence. The Biden administration appointed him as a member of the U.S. State Department's Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information, and a member of the Export-Import Bank of the United States' Council on China Competition. Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hil. David Moschella is a nonresident senior fellow at ITIF. Previously, he was a research fellow at Leading Edge Forum (LEF), where he explored the global business impact of digital technologies, with a particular focus on disruptive business models, industry restructuring and machine intelligence. For more than a decade before LEF, David was in charge of worldwide research for IDC, the largest market analysis firm in the information technology industry, responsible for the company's global technology industry forecasts and insights. A well-known international speaker, writer, and thought leader, David's books include Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), Seeing Digital—A Visual Guide to the Industries, Organizations, and Careers of the 2020s (DXC Technology, 2018), Customer-Driven IT (Harvard Business School Press, 2003), and Waves of Power (Amacom, 1997). He has lectured and consulted on digital trends and strategies in more than 30 countries, working with leading customers and suppliers alike.

Europe has been enormously unsuccessful in creating substantial digital businesses for over three decades. Rob and Jackie sat down with David Evans, chairman of Market Platform Dynamics, to discuss why it's imperative that Europe ends this ‘digital winter'.MentionedDavid S. Evans, “Why Europe Must End Its 30-Year Digital Winter to Ensure Its Long-Run Future,” (SSRN, April 2024).Robert D. Atkinson and David Moschella. Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).

Robert D. Atkinson, bestselling author of the book "Technology Fears and Scapegoats" joins the show to address the widespread myths and misconceptions surrounding modern technologies and their impact on society. He also discusses the most common misconceptions about AI and ways to address them, the balance between technological advancement and privacy protection, and the criticality of STEM education in overcoming these myths and fostering a culture of innovation.

It's easy to get excited about new breakthroughs, but the real power lies in diffusing technological advances throughout the entire economy. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jeffrey Ding, Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University, to discuss how technological revolutions influence competition and the implications for the United States and China.MentionedJeffrey Ding. Technology and the Rise of Great Powers: How Diffusion Shapes Economic Competition, (Princeton University Press, 2024).Robert D. Atkinson. The Past and Future of America's Economy: Long Waves of Innovation that Power Cycles of Growth, (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005).Victor Appleton. Tom Swift Sr. Series, (Stratemeyer Syndicate, published between 1910 and 1941).

Over the last several years, public opinion on technology and the use of data has shifted from excitement to skepticism to fear. Rob and Jackie sat down with Daniel Castro, Vice President of ITIF and Director of the Center for Data Innovation, to discuss the negative effect of techlash on human outcomes.RelatedRobert D. Atkinson and David Moschella. Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).Robert D. Atkinson, Doug Brake, Daniel Castro, Colin Cunliff, Joe Kennedy, Michael McLaughlin, Alan McQuinn, and Joshua New, “A Policymaker's Guide to the “Techlash” —What It Is and Why It's a Threat to Growth and Progress,” (ITIF, October 2019)

The future will be much improved if society fights the fear of technology. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jim Pethokoukis, Senior Fellow and DeWitt Wallace Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss how the sci-fi fantasy of the future isn't as far off as we think. MentionedJames Pethokoukis. The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised, (Center Street, 2023).Robert D. Atkinson and David Moschella. Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).RelatedRobert D. Atkinson, Doug Brake, Daniel Castro, Colin Cunliff, Joe Kennedy, Michael McLaughlin, Alan McQuinn, and Joshua New, “A Policymaker's Guide to the “Techlash” —What It Is and Why It's a Threat to Growth and Progress,” (ITIF, October 2019)Hodan Omaar, “No, We Aren't in an Oppenheimer Moment for AI,” (ITIF, July 2023)

Climate change is a global problem, with two polarized viewpoints making it difficult to find a solution. Rob and Jackie sat down with Robin Gaster, Director of Research at ITIF's Center for Clean Energy Innovation, to discuss how price/performance parity in green technologies can bridge the gap between left and right viewpoints on clean energy. MentionedRobin Gaster, Robert D. Atkinson, and Ed Rightor, “Beyond Force: A Realist Pathway Through the Green Transition,” (ITIF, July 2023).RelatedRobin Gaster, “A Realist Approach to Hydrogen,” (ITIF, January 2024).

In recent years, China's tech and innovation sector has emerged as a disruptive force on the world stage, growing to rival, and in some areas, surpass that of traditional technology leaders like the United States. Companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei have achieved global recognition, not only for their size but also for their innovations in e-commerce, digital payments, 5G technology, and artificial intelligence. Alongside China's expansive Belt and Road Initiative, how will their tech and innovation travel across the globe? Is China on track to surpass the U.S. in technology, and what does this mean for the world? What do we often get wrong about China's tech industry, and how do those misconceptions shape global relations? What is the best way for the U.S. to react to China's tech surge while fostering global cooperation?Join us today for a discussion that explores the rise of China's tech and innovation sector and the potential repercussions for the U.S.-China relationship. Our speakers for this discussion are Robert D. Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Dr. Tai Ming Cheung, director of the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, and Rebecca Fannin, founder of Silicon Dragon Ventures.Music by Oleksandr Stepanov from PixabayFollow us at:Network2020.orgTwitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020

To flourish, innovation hubs need the right combination of talent, tech, funding, and market access. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jessica Corrigan, the director of M&T's Tech Academy, to discuss how smaller regions can become powerful innovation ecosystems.MentionedRobert D. Atkinson, “Comments to the Commerce Department Regarding Implementation of the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program,” (ITIF, March 2023).RelatedMatt Ashare, “At M&T Bank, modernization and talent strategies intersect in the cloud,” (CIO Dive, June 2023).Robert D. Atkinson, “Understanding the U.S. National Innovation System, 2020,” (ITIF, November 2023).

The Chinese Communist Party sees technology innovation as the main battlefield of its industrial policy - and its ultimate weapon for achieving global dominance. The United States and the Biden Administration needs to confront the reality of what has been called China's “brute force economics” and abandon the possibility that competing on a level playing field with China's is possible. We have to face up to the fact that we are not simply in an economic competition with China. We're in a war. Joining the Bill Walton Show to explore this troubling reality is our returning guest: Robert D. Atkinson. Rob is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, one of the world's top think tanks for science and technology policy.  China's tactics are not merely an assortment of cutthroat moves made by individual actors. Rather, they are features of Beijing's long-term strategy and are backed up by the full force of the country's party-state system, creating a challenge that Washington cannot afford to ignore. Beijing is intent on employing predatory and mercantilist practices to acquire leadership positions in virtually every emerging and advanced industry that matters.  It's doing this through market access restrictions, massive industrial subsidies that fuel overcapacity, technology transfer requirements for market access, preferential financing and procurement contracts for domestic firms, intellectual property theft, cyber- and human-enabled espionage, coercion and bullying, forced labor and other poor labor conditions, and other market-distorting policies. They've already established dominance in industries including steel, solar panels, drones, shipbuilding, pharmaceutical ingredients, high-speed rail, and telecommunications equipment; and are making rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace, semiconductors, biotechnology, networking technologies, and electric vehicles and batteries, cloud computing, flat panel displays, advanced materials, autonomous systems, and LiDAR technology.  Fortunately, as Rob explains, there are some straightforward and implementable actions the United States can take to push back against China's agenda. If you've been wondering about what the economic battle with China is all about, this conversation is a great place to understand its essentials.

China has had a dismissive attitude about its obligations as a member of World Trade Organization (WTO) ever since it joined the organization. Rob and Jackie sat down with Dennis Shea, executive director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, to discuss how China's current non-market economic system is simply incompatible with WTO norms. MentionedDennis Shea. China's Trade-Disruptive Economic Model and the Implications for the WTO. (U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, 2018).2022 Report to Congress On China's WTO Compliance. United States Trade Representative, February 2023.Robert D. Atkinson. How China's Mercantilist Policies Have Undermined Global Innovation in the Telecom Equipment Industry. (ITIF, 2020).Stephen Ezell. False Promises II: The Continuing Gap Between China's WTO Commitments and Its Practices. (ITIF, 2021).

America can't just pick up speed to beat China economically; it needs to slow down China, because there's no use in accelerating when your adversary is along for the ride. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jonathan Ward, author of China's Vision of Victory, to discuss where things stand in innovation and technology, and how the U.S. can maintain its position as the world's largest and most sophisticated economy.MentionedJonathan Ward. The Decisive Decade: American Grand Strategy for Triumph Over China, (Diversion Books, 2023).Jonathan Ward. China's Vision of Victory: A Guide to the Global Grand Strategy of the Chinese Government, (Atlas Organization, 2023).RelatedIan Clay and Robert D. Atkinson. Wake Up, America: China Is Overtaking the United States in Innovation Capacity, (ITIF, 2023)Stephen Ezell and Stefan Koester. Three Cheers for the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022! Now, Let's Get Back to Work, (ITIF, 2022). 

Teaching students to combine basic ideas to solve novel, difficult problems is imperative to setting a foundation for STEM pursuits. Rob and Jackie sat down with Richard Rusczyk, founder the Art of Problem Solving Initiative, co-writer of the original Art of Problem Solving books, and co-founder of the Mandelbrot Problem Solving Competition.MentionedAoPS and Beast Academy Math programs for Advanced Students. Art of Problem Solving. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2022.Robert D. Atkinson and Merrilea Mayo, “Refueling the U.S. Innovation Economy: Fresh Approaches to STEM Education” (ITIF, December 2010)

Economics is about more than the economy. It also intersects public and private institutions, culture, religion, morality, and politics. Rob and Jackie explored these subjects with Benjamin Friedman, a professor of Political Economy at Harvard and author of The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth and Religion and the Rise of Capitalism.Mentioned:Benjamin Friedman, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (Vintage: 2022).Benjamin Friedman, The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth (Vintage: 2006).Robert D. Atkinson, “The Abandonment of Growth and the Decline of the West,” The Independent Review, Vol. 2, no. 2, Fall 2022.Benjamin Carter Hett, The Death of Democracy (Macmillan: 2018)

Robust intellectual property rights provide the incentives necessary to drive innovation by allowing markets to form for tangible and intangible assets. Without them, incentives get distorted and innovation slows. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jonathan Barnett, director of the Media, Entertainment and Technology Law Program at USC's Gould School of Law, to discuss the recent history, current political dynamics, and economic stakes associated with patent protections.Mentioned:Jonathan Barnett, “The Great Patent Grab” (August 20, 2021). In The Battle over Patents: History and Politics of Innovation (eds. Stephen H. Haber and Naomi R. Lamoreaux, Oxford University Press 2021), USC CLASS Research Paper No. CLASS21-48, USC Law Legal Studies Paper No. 21-48.Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, Big Is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business (The MIT Press, 2019).Stephen Ezell, “TRIPS Waiver on COVID-19 IP Rights Wouldn't Help Vaccine Access; It Would Just Harm Innovation,” ITIF Innovation Files, March 19, 2021.Stephen Ezell, “The Bayh-Dole Act's Vital Importance to the U.S. Life-Sciences Innovation System” (ITIF, March 2019). 

China is taking an authoritarian approach in its quest to be a dominant power in technology and global affairs. Silicon Valley innovator and former Under Secretary of State Keith Krach has a unique perspective on both aspects. Rob and Jackie sat down with him to discuss how China is impacting global market competition and what it means for U.S. competition policy. MentionedKeith Krach, “Present your China contingency plan at the next board meeting,” Fortune Magazine, April 2022.RelatedRobert D. Atkinson, “China's ‘State Capitalism' Is Not Capitalism” (ITIF, August 2021).Robert D. Atkinson, “A Remarkable Resemblance: Germany From 1900 to 1945 and China Today,” International Economy, January 20, 2021.Robert D. Atkinson, “Who Lost China?” (ITIF, July 2018).

The first industrial robots appeared in the early 1960s and were initially optimized for production lines. These days, innovation in robotics is progressing rapidly as sophisticated localization and mapping enables improved robotic mobility, and as new levels of flexible manipulation allow robots to perform more specialized tasks. Rob and Jackie sat down recently with Rian Whitton, a strategic technologies analyst at ABI Research, to discuss the evolution of robotics and the prospects for accelerating productivity gains. Related:Robert D. Atkinson, “In Defense of Robots,” National Review, April 2017.Robert D. Atkinson, “Robotics and the Future of Production and Work” (ITIF, October 2019).Robert D. Atkinson, “The Case Against Taxing Robots” (ITIF, April 2019).

Innovation is a central component to addressing climate change. From the transportation we take, the energy we use to power our homes, and the cement that paves our roads, innovation has been essential in addressing climate change. But despite these clean energy options, policymakers need to implement innovative policies to accelerate the country's response to climate change. Rob and Jackie sat down with David Hart, a senior fellow at ITIF, professor of public policy at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government, and director of ITIF's Clean Energy Innovation Policy Program to discuss how ITIF's Clean Energy Innovation Program can help guide policymakers in their goal to stop climate change. MentionedUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “Paris Agreement” (UNFCCC, November 2016).Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis” (IPCC, August 2021).RelatedPeter Fox-Penner, et al., “Clean and Competitive: Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturing Leadership in the Global-Low Carbon Economy” (ITIF, June 2021).Robert D. Atkinson, “Growth Through Innovation Will Help Fight Climate Change” (ITIF, August 2021).Linh Nguyen, “Refreshing the Global Agenda for Climate Innovation” (ITIF, 2021).

From bottle manufacturing to machine repair, automation has made just about every industry more efficient and adaptive to consumer demands. But despite its omnipresence, policymakers have failed to fully understand what drives industrial automation and why it matters for the economy. Rob sat down with Dave Vasko, director of advanced technology at Rockwell Automation, to discuss the latest trends in industrial automation—including innovations powered by artificial intelligence and virtual reality—and to consider how policymakers can spur manufacturing productivity and ensure the United States is globally competitive.Mentioned:Robert D. Atkinson and Daron Acemoglu debate: “Is the United States Tax System Favoring Excessive Automation?” (ITIF event, November 2020).Robert D. Atkinson, “Federal Statistical Needs for a National Advanced Industry and Technology Strategy” (ITIF, July 2021).Stephen J. Ezell, “Why Manufacturing Digitalization Matters and How Countries Are Supporting It” (ITIF, April 2018). Lawrence Summers and Alan Auerbach, “The Investment Tax Credit: An Evaluation” (National Bureau of Economic Research, November 1979). Related:Robert D. Atkinson, “10 Types of Work to Automate or Move Online for a COVID-19 World” (ITIF, July 2020).Robert D. Atkinson, “The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get” (ITIF, November 2019).Robert D. Atkinson, “How MIT's ‘Work of the Future' Project Gets It Wrong: Raising Taxes on Machinery and Software Would Kill Jobs and Hamper Wage Growth” (ITIF, 2020).

Antitrust policy provides a perfect lens to see the systematic differences between China and Western liberal democracies, according to Dr. Angela Zhang, director of the Center for Chinese Law at the University of Hong Kong. In her book Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism: How the Rise of China Challenges Global Regulation, Zhang argues China leverages antitrust law to achieve industrial policy objectives—including in the tech sectors that are crucial to its rivalry with the United States—but it does so through an insular bureaucracy that is surprisingly fragmented and therefore difficult for outsiders to understand. Rob and Jackie sat down with Dr. Zhang to discuss the internal power dynamics that shape China's regulatory environment and how it affects the competitive balance of power in the global economy.Mentioned:Angela Huyue Zhang, Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism: How the Rise of China Challenges Global Regulation(Oxford University Press, 2021).Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, Big Is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business (The MIT Press, 2018).Related:Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, Who Wins After U.S. Antitrust Regulators Attack? China. (ITIF, 2018).Robert D. Atkinson and David Moschella, Competing With China: A Strategic Framework (ITIF, 2020).

With the WTO in desperate need of reform and Australia hit by trade sanctions by the PRC, do we need a new allied trade treaty? How should the UK, EU and US come together to rethink the economic challenge posed by China? This event took place in tandem with the launch of a new policy paper written for the China Research Group by Robert D. Atkinson, which you can read here. The paper looks at whether democratic nations should form an allied trade treaty to combat Chinese trade aggression. This event was chaired by Tom Tugendhat MP, with the following speakers. Speakers: Rob Atkinson. Founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), recognised as the world's top think tank for science and technology policy, and author of upcoming paper for the China Research Group: NATO for Trade. Reinhard Butikofer. Member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA) and the Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP). He is the Chair for the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China. Agatha Kratz. coordinates Rhodium Group's European activities and leads research on European Union-China relations and China's commercial diplomacy. She co-authored the paper “Home Advantage: How China's Protected Market Threatens Europe's Economic Power”.

Long before Walmart and Amazon, there was A&P—The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company—which started as a mail-order tea business in the Civil War era before displacing Sears, Roebuck & Co. in the 1920s to become the world's largest retailer. Its pioneering innovations made the mom-and-pop grocery business more efficient and less expensive, and in so doing it pitted consumer and civil rights advocates against small-business groups. Rob and Jackie sat down with historian and economist Marc Levinson, author of The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, to discuss the life and times of the company and how the debates around its growth resemble the antitrust debates we are having again today.Mentioned:Marc Levinson, The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger (Princeton University Press, 2008).Marc Levinson, Outside the Box: How Globalization Changed from Moving Stuff to Spreading Ideas (Princeton University Press, 2020).Marc Levinson, The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America (Marc Levinson, 2019).Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, Big Is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business (The MIT Press, 2018).

When it comes to the innovation economy, there is no hotter issue these days than antitrust. Technology companies, in particular, are on the firing line as an increasingly vocal populist movement seeks to refashion late 19th century antitrust laws to guard against monopoly power and slow down disruptive innovation in the digital era. In these conditions, there is a risk that the so-called “precautionary principle” will take hold at the expense of economic dynamism. Rob and Jackie parse the debate and weigh the best options for policymakers with Aurelien Portuese, ITIF’s director of antitrust and innovation policy.Mentioned:Aurelien Portuese, Antitrust Populism: Competition Policy in the Digital Era (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).Robert D. Atkinson, “Freedom, Fairness or Flourishing: America’s Fundamental Economic Policy Choice,” American Compass, April 1, 2021.Related:“Dynamic Antitrust With Aurelien Portuese: Discussions on the Future of Competition and Innovation,” ITIF webinar series, March 12, 2021.Aurelien Portuese, “Precautionary Antitrust: A Precautionary Tale in European Competition Policy,” in Law and Economics of Regulation, edited by Mathis, et al. (Springer International Publishing, 2021), DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-70530-5.“Schumpeter v. Brandeis v. Chicago: The Antitrust Debate of Our Times,” ITIF webinar, June 15, 2021. 

The “techlash” is a story of extreme pendulum swings—from an era in which splashy product launches earned gushing media reviews to a relentless crisis narrative in which the tech industry is viewed with harsh suspicion. How has this happened? Is it a case of pack journalism run amok, or have tech companies contributed to the narrative with predictable formulas for handling a PR crisis? Rob and Jackie discuss all this with Nirit Weiss-Blatt, a former research fellow at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and author of the new book The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communications.Mentioned:Nirit Weiss-Blatt, The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communications (UK: Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021). Patrick Grother, Mei Ngan, and Kayee Hanaoka, Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) Part 3: Demographic Effects, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Interagency Report 8280, December 2019. Related:Robert D. Atkinson, et al., “A Policymaker’s Guide to the ‘Techlash’—What It Is and Why It’s a Threat to Growth and Progress” (ITIF, October 2019).Doug Allen and Daniel Castro, “Why So Sad? A Look at the Change in Tone of Technology Reporting From 1986 to 2013” (ITIF, February 2017).Michael McLaughlin and Daniel Castro, “The Critics Were Wrong: Data Shows the Best Facial Recognition Algorithms Are Neither Racist Nor Sexist” (ITIF, January 2020). 

There is an inordinate amount of hype and fear around artificial intelligence these days, as a chorus of scholars, luminaries, media, and politicians nervously project that it could soon take our jobs and subjugate or even kills us off. Others are just as fanciful in hoping it is on the verge of solving all our problems. But the truth is AI isn’t nearly as advanced as most people imagine. What is the practical reality of AI today, and how should government approach AI policy to maximize its potential? To parse the hype, the hope, and the path forward for AI, Rob and Jackie sat down recently with Pedro Domingos, emeritus professor of computer science at the University of Washington and author of The Master Algorithm.Mentioned:Pedro Domingos, The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World (Basic Books, 2015).Robert D. Atkinson, “The 2015 ITIF Luddite Award Nominees: The Worst of the Year’s Worst Innovation Killers” (ITIF, December 2015).Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 1990).Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osbourne, “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?” (University of Oxford, September 17, 2013).Michael McLaughlin and Daniel Castro, “The Critics Were Wrong: NIST Data Shows the Best Facial Recognition Algorithms Are Neither Racist Nor Sexist” (ITIF, January 2020).“The Case for Killer Robots,” ITIF Innovation Files podcast with Robert Marks, August 10, 2020.

Venture capital firms have reined in their funding for resource-intensive start-ups trying to commercialize new technologies in fields such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and robotics. Today, for a fraction of the costs involved in those enterprises, you can bring innovations to market in months—and be relatively capital efficient—thanks partly to the transition to cloud computing. Rob and Jackie discuss what’s needed to maintain a robust VC ecosystem in the United States with veteran angel investor Dan Scheinman. Mentioned:“The COVID-19 ‘Reallocation Shock,’ With Nick Bloom,” ITIF Innovation Files podcast, August 17, 2020. Adams Nager, et al., “The Demographics of Innovation in the United States” (ITIF, February 2016). Related:Robert D. Atkinson, Mark Muro, and Jacob Whiton, “The Case for Growth Centers: How to Spread Tech Innovation Across America” (ITIF and Brookings, December 9, 2019). “The Real History of Silicon Valley and the Lessons It Holds for Innovation Policy Today, With Margaret O’Mara” ITIF Innovation Files podcast, June 8, 2020. Daniel Castro and Alan McQuinn, “The Privacy Panic Cycle: A Guide to Public Fears About New Technologies” (ITIF, September 2015).

The United States has no national, coordinated innovation policy system. In fact, its overall innovation system has been deteriorating. The country’s economic future and national security will depend on rising to the challenge of addressing this problem. Rob and Jackie discuss how policymakers can be responsible stewards of innovation with John Kao, a leading thinker on innovation.Mentioned:John Kao, Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity (Harper Business, 1997). John Kao, Innovation Nation: How America Is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do to Get It Back (Free Press, 2007). Related:Robert D. Atkinson, “Understanding the U.S. National Innovation System, 2020” (ITIF, November 2020).

Despite the growing use of computers and software in every facet of our economy, not until recently has computer science education begun to gain traction in American school systems. The current focus on improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in U.S. schools has disregarded differences within STEM fields. Indeed, the most important STEM field for a modern economy is not only one that is not represented by its own initial in the acronym “STEM,” but also the field that the fewest high school students study and the one with the most room for improvement, by far: computer science. Rob and Jackie discuss the state of computer science education in the United States and abroad—and why policymakers need to provide support—with Pat Yongpradit, chief academic officer for Code.org.Mentioned:2020 State of Computer Science Education: Illuminating Disparities (Code.org Advocacy Coalition, Computer Science Teachers Association, and Expanding Computing Education Pathways, October 2020).Adams Nager and Robert D. Atkinson, “The Case for Improving U.S. Computer Science Education” (ITIF, May 2016). Robert D. Atkinson and Merrilea Mayo, “Refueling the U.S. Innovation Economy: Fresh Approaches to STEM Education” (ITIF, December 2010). Computer Science for All Act of 2019, H.R.1485, 116th Congress. (2019) Robert D. Atkinson and Caleb Foote, “The 2020 State New Economy Index” (ITIF, October 2020).

It has become abundantly clear that the United States faces a robust economic and military competitor in China. In at least one respect, this is a more daunting challenge than America faced in the Cold War, because while the former Soviet Union had a strong military, it struggled with a weak economy. In those days, the United States also could rely on specialized defense contractors to provide most of the technologies that the Defense Department needed to maintain military superiority, but that’s no longer true. Now, many of the capabilities the country needs for its defense reside in the private sector. It is, therefore, critical to establish better links between the commercial sector and the military.Enter the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a Defense Department entity that was launched in 2015 to work more closely with the private sector. Rob and Jackie talk to Michael Brown, DIU’s director and a former CEO of Symantec, about remaining competitive by innovating in the defense sector. Mentioned: Stephen Ezell and Caleb Foote, “How Stringent Export Controls on Emerging Technologies Would Harm the U.S. Economy” (ITIF, May 2019). Nigel Cory and Robert D. Atkinson, “Why and How to Mount a Strong, Trilateral Response to China’s Innovation Mercantilism” (ITIF, January 2020). Robert D. Atkinson, “Emerging Defense Technologies Need Funding to Cross ‘The Valley of Death’,” RealClearDefense, February 15, 2020.

America leads in biopharmaceutical innovation and drug development, in large part due to effective life-science policies, including significant federal investment in basic research, robust intellectual property protections, effective technology transfer policies, investment incentives, and, importantly, drug pricing policies that enable companies to invest in high-risk drug development. Rob and Jackie talk about conducive environments for biopharmaceutical startups—and what the federal government can do to maintain U.S. competitiveness—with Josh Bilenker, CEO of Loxo Oncology at Lilly. Mentioned:Robert D. Atkinson, “Why Life-Sciences Innovation Is Politically “Purple”—and How Partisans Get It Wrong” (ITIF, February 2016). Stephen Ezell, “Ensuring U.S. Biopharmaceutical Competitiveness” (ITIF, July 2020). Related:Stephen Ezell, et al., “The Critical Role of Biopharmaceutical Startups in Driving Life Sciences Innovation,” ITIF webinar, July 16, 2020. Joe Kennedy, “The Link Between Drug Prices and Research on the Next Generation of Cures” (ITIF, September 2019).

If Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma” is to be believed, social media giants are surely responsible for the breakdown of our mental health, politics, and the economy. Generations of fear mongers have found reasons to believe new technologies—from books and bicycles to video games and email—are to blame for society’s ills. Rob and Jackie take a deep breath and discuss these predictable cycles of technology panic with Dr. Amy Orben, an expert in the history of technology panics at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge.Mentioned:Amy Orben, “The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics,” Perspectives on Psychological Science, June 30, 2020.Amy Orben, “The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics,” video lecture, July 1, 2020. Related:Robert D. Atkinson, et al., “A Policymaker’s Guide to the “Techlash”—What It Is and Why It’s a Threat to Growth and Progress” (ITIF, October 2019).Daniel Castro and Alan McQuinn, “The Privacy Panic Cycle: A Guide to Public Fears About New Technologies” (ITIF, September 2015).

For too long, economic policy in the U.S. and Commonwealth nations has been guided by the “market efficiency” school. The result has been a widespread unwillingness to view government roles as critical to boosting innovation, growth, and competitiveness. It’s time for a new approach, which Lord David Sainsbury, author of Windows of Opportunity: How Nations Make Wealth, calls the “production capability” school. Under this school, the key question for economic policy is how well it enables enterprises to be more innovative and efficient. Rejecting the old doctrine in favor of the new is perhaps the most economic important task for our time. Rob and Jackie discuss this and the role for government in “picking winners” at the level of technologies and industries with Sainsbury.Mentioned:Lord David Sainsbury, Windows of Opportunity: How Nations Make Wealth (Profile Books, 2019).Robert D. Atkinson and Stephen J. Ezell, Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale University Press, 2014).

A vocal group of alarmists worry that the pace of automation—particularly advances in robotics and artificial intelligence—will soon displace human labor to such an extent that many workers will be left with nothing to do. Never mind that generation after generation of technological innovations in industries ranging from textiles to steel to banking have always produced the opposite result: expanding the labor force, not wiping it out. Rob and Jackie delve into the evidence with Dr. James Bessen, executive director of the Technology & Policy Research Initiative (TPRI) at Boston University School of Law and author of Learning by Doing: The Real Connection Between Innovation, Wages and Wealth.Mentioned:James Bessen, Learning by Doing: The Real Connection Between Innovation, Wages and Wealth, (Yale University Press, 2015).James Bessen, et al., “Firm-Level Automation: Evidence from the Netherlands,” American Economic Association, AEA Papers and Proceedings, 110: 389-93.Robert D. Atkinson, “How G7 Nations Can Support and Prepare for the Next Technology Wave” (ITIF, March 2018).Technology & Policy Research Initiative (TPRI), Boston University School of Law.Related:ITIF’s @Work Series: “Employment in the Innovation Economy.”Robert D. Atkinson, “Robots, Automation, and Jobs: A Primer for Policymakers” (ITIF, May 2017).Robert D. Atkinson, “Robotics and the Future of Production and Work” (ITIF, October 2019).Robert D. Atkinson, “How to Reform Worker-Training and Adjustment Policies for an Era of Technological Change” (ITIF, February 2018).

There has been a global consensus for nearly a century that countries should tax multinational companies in the jurisdictions where they create value, not where they generate sales. But that consensus has begun to fall apart as digitalization has made it easier to serve regional markets remotely and Internet companies have successfully capitalized on the opportunity. A growing number of countries, from the United Kingdom and France to Chile and Australia, are now looking to impose “digital services taxes” (DSTs) on a select few of these Internet companies—mostly American—on the dubious theory that users are creating a significant share of their value, so their profits should be taxed where their users reside. Rob and Jackie discuss the dangers of this approach—and how policymakers can protect U.S. firms—with trade expert Clete Willems, partner at Akin Gump Strauss.Mentioned:Clete Willems, “Digital taxes are an even bigger threat to the US economy during the pandemic,” CNBC, May 27, 2020.Joe Kennedy, “Digital Services Taxes: A Bad Idea Whose Time Should Never Come” (ITIF, May 2019).Robert D. Atkinson, Nigel Cory, and Stephen Ezell, “Stopping China’s Mercantilism: A Doctrine of Constructive, Alliance-Backed Confrontation” (ITIF, March 2017).Related:Joe Kennedy, “Comments to the U.S. Trade Representative Regarding Section 301 Investigations of Digital Services Taxes” (ITIF, June 2020).

China engages in egregious “innovation mercantilism,” including massive tech subsidies and forced tech transfer, all designed to have China replace America as the global tech leader. It’s time for America to rise to the challenge by developing its own plan to maintain competitive advantage in advanced and emerging technology industries that are critical to U.S. economic and national security. Rob and Jackie discuss all of this—along with what an Energy and Commerce agenda might look like next Congress--with Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Ranking Member on E&C’s Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee.Mentioned:Walden, McMorris Rodgers Announce Emerging Tech AgendaAll Information (Except Text) for H.R.6950 - GAINS ActDaniel Castro and Michael McLaughlin, “Ten Ways the Precautionary Principle Undermines Progress in Artificial Intelligence” (ITIF, February 2019).Related:Robert D. Atkinson, “How China’s Policies Have Stifled Global Innovation” (ITIF, January 2020).Robert D. Atkinson, “The Case for a National Industrial Strategy to Counter China’s Technological Rise” (ITIF, April 2020).

The dominant narrative about Silicon Valley, and U.S. tech innovation generally, is that it sprang from garages of quirky, but committed entrepreneurs. Yes, but… What many don’t realize is how important federal investments were in kick-starting the growth of Silicon Valley and other tech hubs in the past. Rob and Jackie discuss this history and its potential lessons for federal policy to spur growth in other parts of the country today with Professor Margaret O’Mara, author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America.Mentioned:Margaret O’Mara, The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America (Penguin Random House, 2020).Robert D. Atkinson, Mark Muro, and Jacob Whiton, “The Case for Growth Centers: How to Spread Tech Innovation Across America” (ITIF, December 2019).Adams Nager, David M. Hart, Stephen Ezell, and Robert D. Atkinson, “The Demographics of Innovation in the United States” (ITIF, February 2019).Apple 1984 Super Bowl Commercial Introducing Macintosh Computer.Margaret O’Mara’s website: www.margaretomara.com.

The COVID crisis has highlighted more than ever the importance of information technology and the tech companies that produce it as many of us work at home, rely on e-commerce, and enjoy streaming video and social media. What is the impact of this on the so-called “techlash” and on broader perceptions of technology companies? What gaps has the COVID crisis exposed in current IT system that need more innovation and investment? And what does all of this say about government’s role in spurring the digitalization of the economy? Rob and Jackie discuss these issues with IT expert David Moschella, a research fellow at the Leading Edge Forum and author of Seeing Digital: A Visual Guide to the Industries, Organizations, and Careers of the 2020s. Mentioned:Robert D. Atkinson, et al., “A Policymaker’s Guide to the “Techlash”—What It Is and Why It’s a Threat to Growth and Progress” (ITIF, October 2019). Robert D. Atkinson, “The Task Ahead of Us: Transforming the Global Economy With Connectivity, Automation, and Intelligence” (ITIF, January 2019).David Moschella, Seeing Digital: A Visual Guide to the Industries, Organizations, and Careers of the 2020s (DXC Technology, 2018).

The COVID crisis has exposed new vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains, as well generated even more distrust of the Chinese government. At the same time, China is doubling down its “Made in China, 2025” ambitions to be the global technology leader. How will these developments affect U.S. technology competitiveness? What should the next administration do vis-à-vis U.S.-China trade relations? Rob and Jackie discuss these issues with James McGregor, Chairman of APCO Worldwide’s greater China region and a leading expert on China and Chinese economic policy.Mentioned in this episode:Books by James McGregor: jamesmcgregor-inc.com/books.Robert D. Atkinson, “The Case for a National Industrial Strategy to Counter China’s Technological Rise” (ITIF, April 2020).Orville Schell, Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century (Random House, 2013). William H. Janeway, Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy: Markets, Speculation and the State (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Bio   Doug Brake (@dbrakeitif)  directs the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s work on broadband and spectrum policy. He writes extensively and speaks frequently to lawmakers, the news media, and other influential audiences on topics such as next-generation wireless, rural broadband infrastructure, and network neutrality. Brake is a recognized broadband policy expert, having testified numerous times before Congress, state legislatures, and regulatory commissions, as well as serving on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Group. His written commentary has appeared in publications such as Democracy Journal, Ripon Forum, Morning Consult, Roll Call, The Hill, and RealClearPolicy, and he has provided analysis on air for broadcast outlets such as Bloomberg, NPR, CNBC, and Al Jazeera. He previously worked as a research assistant at the Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado, and he interned as a Hatfield scholar at the FCC, assisting with the implementation of the advanced communications services section of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Brake holds a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and philosophy from Macalester College. Resources Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) Robert D. Atkinson et al., Digital Policy for Physical Distancing: 28 Stimulus Proposals That Will Pay Long-Term Dividends Digital Policy for Physical Distancing: 28 Stimulus Proposals That Will Pay Long-Term Dividends (2020) (last visited Apr 21, 2020). News Roundup       Event memorializing Holocaust Zoom-bombed with Hitler images Israeli Embassy in Germany The Israeli Embassy in Germany decided to hold its Holocaust memorial online this year, only to have it Zoom-bombed with images of Adolf Hitler. This is just one of several incidents involving Zoom calls, with a meeting held by African American students at UT Austin Zoom-bombed a few weeks ago with similar racist comments and imagery. Despite the well-publicized breaches, though, Zoom usage is way up, with the company’s CEO Eric Yuan reporting 300 million new users, or 50% higher, as the company’s share price rose some 12% this week. Human Rights groups try to protect kids online amidst EdTech commercialization efforts School districts across the nation have rolled out their distance learning programs with varying degrees of success. Fairfax County, Virginia Public Schools’ rollout was an embarrassing flop, for example, with students getting Zoom-bombed and users faced with persistent log in and access problems. But with the responsibility for education delegated to each state, how can students’ privacy and personal data be protected with so little uniformity? Who will manage the RFP process for school technology providers seeking to work with school districts? What are the standards that will be used to evaluate them? There aren’t any. So, as John Eggerton writes in Multichannel News, human rights groups are pushing for better oversight.   TikTok has added additional parental controls, like disabling DMs for teens under age 16. But that doesn’t solve the problem of the China-based company potentially recording, predicting, and attempting to modify user behavior by conducting behavior and sentiment analysis over a lifetime, based on the profiles and videos their users have visited and how they have expressed themselves online since childhood, the effects of which we’ve yet to see. Nintendo confirmed 160,00 hacks last week, disabling users’ ability to log in, as the public shrugged off the hacks as a necessary tradeoff to enjoy our connected world. Fairfax County Police conducted a sting operation, arresting 30 adults who used the opportunity of the coronavirus lockdown to solicit underaged children for sex. While this effort is certainly a deterrent, many more perps, especially those who are technically literate, engage in the same behavior while evading detection, simply because lawmakers seem unable or unwilling to pass comprehensive privacy legislation to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of children’s data, much less their exploitation by criminals. Prisons are surveilling prisoners for discussions about coronavirus The Intercept reports that prisons are surveilling inmates’ phone calls for discussions about coronavirus. How doing so will help limit the spread of the deadly disease isn’t clear. But the technology was developed by a company called Verus, which was funded by Republican donor Elliott Brody according to the report. Cathy O’Neil: COVID-19 response threatens to automate ageism In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ author Cathy O’Neil writes that biased data is causing healthcare providers to allocate resources away from the elderly, as they choose where to assign limited resources. She fears that nations will automate ageism in a way that preserves healthcare gaps between the young and elderly. O’Neil argues that not only is much of the data biased, but it is also incomplete, showing little to no justification at all for assigning lower priority to older patients based on their age. FCC denies extension of net neutrality comment period Not even during a pandemic is the current FCC able to show the slightest bit of graciousness for two cities among the hardest hit. Saying they had more than enough time to prepare comments, the FCC denied the Cities of Los Angeles and New York’s request to extend the comment deadline pertaining to those parts of the agency’s net neutrality repeal the DC Circuit sent back for it to reconsider. Newly unemployed find below-minimum-wage remote work on Amazon Newly unemployed workers are finding work on Amazon. The only problem is that it’s not the work in warehouses or delivering packages that most people think of. For many years, so-called “reviewers” have used Amazon’s “Mechanical Turk” platform to perform tasks that pay a median wage of around 2.00 per hour, according to research from Carnegie Mellon University. Tasks include things like labeling pictures, text, or other items for large companies like Microsoft, according to Wired. So definitely some labor issues to think about there. Leaked Amazon pics show new efforts to track license plates Finally, Amazon has faced significant criticism of late regarding the surveillance components of its Ring camera and facial recognition program. But despite calls for reform, and in the absence of regulatory constraints, the company has continued developing this technology. Ars Technica reported last week that the company may now be tracking license plates. Several reports from the Washington Post and other sources have covered police departments’ widespread use of surveillance technology developed by Amazon, Google, Palantir and others. But as one can see, we’re essentially in a Wild West-type of era, similar to the early days of the internet, in which the supposed societal benefits, in this case public safety, are seen by tech moguls to outweigh our Constitutional rights.  

AI promises a new industrial revolution but history warns us that industrial revolutions aren't always that fun for people in the eye of the storm. This week, Nicholas Barrett and Maria Demertzis spoke with Dr. Carl Frey, author of the book "The technology trap: capital, labor, and power in the age of automation", and Robert D. Atkinson, President of Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), about how artificial intelligence will affect the job market.

Listen to Dr. Robert Atkinson and his views on US Manufacturing and the role automation will play in our country's future success. Links mentioned in the interview: https://www.itif.org/ https://www.nist.gov/mep https://www.universal-robots.com/ https://www.fanucamerica.com/ https://robex.us/ Dr. Robert D. Atkinson is one of the country's foremost thinkers on innovation economics. He has conducted ground-breaking research on technology and innovation and authored three books, including Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Mythology of Small Business (MIT Press, 2018).As founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), recognized as the world's top think tank for science and technology policy, Atkinson leads a prolific team of policy analysts and fellows that is successfully shaping the debate and setting the agenda on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy.

Robert D. Atkinson, founder and president of ITIF, describes the United States role in the war for influence and control.

In this podcast, Dave Vasko, director of Advanced Technology for Rockwell Automation, talks with Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). They explore how robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence will affect the next-gen workforce.

Ever since Thomas Jefferson championed the “yeoman farmer,” Americans across the political spectrum have romanticized small businesses. Politicians tout Mom-and-Pop companies as the backbone of the economy. But, if you run the numbers, small businesses don’t live up to the hype, according to economist Robert D. Atkinson, co-author of the book “Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business.” Atkinson says that we should take a size-neutral approach to regulating businesses.

First: Americans love small businesses, but economist Robert D. Atkinson says that big business is better for workers, consumers, and the world. Then: From standard measurements to interchangeable parts, precision engineering created the modern world. Author Simon Winchester explains how the precision revolution got started in the first place. Finally: We tend to become friends with people who share our interests and passions. But the connections don’t stop there—new research now shows that the brain activity of close friends is similar.

“Politicians from both parties publicly worship the solemn dignity of entrepreneurship and small businesses. But by the numbers, America has become the land of the big and the home of the consolidated,” writes The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson. In a time when Americans have lost faith in their institutions, the nation seems to now look to corporations for positive action. Can big business be a force for good or only a force for profit? Does their very size pose a threat? If corporations can be people, can they be good citizens? Links - “Is Big Business Really That Bad?” (Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, April 2018 Issue) - “America’s Monopoly Problem” (Derek Thompson, October 2016 Issue) - “'Corporations Are People' Is Built on an Incredible 19th-Century Lie” (Adam Winkler, March 5, 2018) - “How American Business Got So Big” (Gillian B. White, November 18, 2016) - “A Small Town Kept Walmart Out. Now It Faces Amazon.” (Alana Semuels, March 2, 2018) - “Why Amazon Pays Some of Its Workers to Quit” (Alana Semuels, February 14, 2018) - “The Internet Is Enabling a New Kind of Poorly Paid Hell” (Alana Semuels, January 23, 2018) - “Hitchens Talks to Goldblog About Cancer and God” (Jeffrey Goldberg, August 6, 2010) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the great things of a medium like a Podcast is to bring different perspectives together.  Some time back, we had Martin Ford as a guest.  Today, I have the pleasure to present Robert Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, with me.  He is running this think tank, and the team published an interesting article (link at the end) on the trends in the labour market in the last 165 years. The results are different than you might expect.  So, enjoy the session. More about Robert Robert D. Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the top-ranked science- and tech-policy think tank in the United States and number two in the world. Atkinson’s books include Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale, 2012), Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics Is the Answer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), and The Past and Future of America’s Economy: Long Waves of Innovation That Power Cycles of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oregon. How to connect with Robert Link to the report: https://itif.org/publications/2017/05/08/false-alarmism-technological-disruption-and-us-labor-market-1850-2015 Twitter: http://twitter.com/RobAtkinsonITIF LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-atkinson-6333362/     And your link to my powerful morning routine framework: http://hpda.link/mamorningroutine