Sunday, April 23, 2017

Not Everyone's a Pessimist

Marco Annunziata is the Chief Economist and Executive Director of Global Market Insights at GE. Unlike Gordon, he is an optimist when it comes to the growth and innovation we can expect to see in the coming years. If you have 12 minutes, check out his TED talk here. He speaks about how we will continue to incorporate machines and technology into our jobs and our lives. Otherwise, here is an article that he wrote for the Economist in 2013 answering the question "Will we ever invent anything useful again?".




“Perhaps the innovation naysayers are taking their cues from the last half-decade of economic turmoil. But just as global economic “gloom and doom” loses traction – financial market health is improving, major economic disasters like the fiscal cliff didn’t come to fruition – so the current pace of innovation should give us optimism, and optimism is in turn required for our capacity to invent.


“Back to The Economist’s question on whether we’re due for another innovation explosion. I would answer unequivocally, “Yes.” The caveat is that not only do I believe we’ll invent new, useful technologies, but tools like the Industrial Internet allow us to improve the efficacy of existing ones.

Are you as optimistic as Marco Annunziata?

3 comments:

  1. Certainly I am optimistic, but I noticed he doesn't mention at all where the rewards of this increased output go.

    "Even if the Industrial Internet can boost annual productivity growth by 1 to 1.5 percent, we could see a 25 to 40 percent raise in average incomes over the next twenty years – music to American ears after decades of stalled income growth."

    My counterpoint is that if the top 1% continue to take home 85% of these income gains, that will certainly add a brown note to this music. (Source: Time magazine)

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  2. I don't think that anyone can be sure of what the future of innovation looks like in the U.S. or worldwide. I am optimistic about the potential of innovation to improve our lives and improve existing creations. However, it should not just be innovation for innovation's sake. I think that the goal should be to improve lives and the society as a whole, whilst making sure that it improves the lives of ALL members of society.

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  3. I agree with Shanice's idea. And Innovation's sustainable development is also a big topic to focus in the future.

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