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hoboken's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, important, a nonfiction page turner. Ford explains complicated things clearly and with sophistication. Has an especially impressive grasp on what you might call economography (maybe there's an actual word for this), the ways in which economists have dealt with developments in their own field. In the 50's this book would have had caused the kind of national conversation The Lonely Crowd and the The Status Seekers did. Now nobody reads except us GRers. Still the machines are coming for us--self-driving cars and 3D printing are already here, and millions of jobs are about to be wiped out. Are we going to be ready?
tbpardue's review against another edition
1.0
The first 100 pages were fairly clear. From there to the end of the book was a random collection of doomsday-ish scenarios, often presented as near inevitabilities. I am surprised he did not toss in asteroid strikes and nuclear winter. Even in the semi-coherent early chapters he displays limited understanding of the economic ideas he uses. For example, in discounting the impact of off-shoring on wages in the U.S. there is no consideration of substitutability of labor and marginal pricing. All in all pretty disappointing. Fortunately I borrowed from the library versus buying it!
terrypaulpearce's review against another edition
5.0
This is probably the most eye-opening and important book I've read in a long, long time. Really clearly, engagingly and even-handedly, using a good selection of sources, it explains exactly how current and (very) near-future advances in technology are doing incredibly scary things. In particular, Ford shows how economics and rising inequality intersect with the accelerating pace of tech to create a perfect storm where, unless we change our economic policy, we are utterly screwed. He builds a pretty unassailable case for some kind of Universal Basic Income as the only feasible way out, and has convinced me that this is probably the most important issue we're facing right now as a planet. Everyone should read this book, especially anyone with a job (even if it's the kind of job you think machines can't do), or anyone who wants a job, or wants their children to have a job, or uses money, or relies in any way on the economy. The people who need to take most notice are policymakers. I hope they do.
erinalexdocx's review against another edition
4.0
Automation changing work as we currently know it, both for the working and middle classes, is laid out as a pretty frightening and inevitable possibility in this book. What I found frustrating was that only in the final chapter did the author acknowledge that automation is poised to severely negatively affect all but a tiny elite only if capitalist economic systems continue. I support the author’s plan for a guaranteed minimum income and more progressive taxation - but I didn’t like how dismissive he was of government intervention into markets and the idea of welfare states.
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
2.0
Ehhh. This is not actually a book about robots; it's a book about income inequality. And I'm not persuaded by the author's argument(s) that income inequality is the Great Satan.
So robots are here, and soon there will be more of them, and they'll be way better, and they'll replace humans in large sectors of the economy. Alright. That seems true.
Therefore, he says, the rise of robots will usher in even greater inequality for a handful of reasons. Ehhhhh. Plausible, but I'm not sure it's as inevitable as the author claims. I can imagine a world wherein more benefit from economic activity goes to capital instead of labor because of robots, but I also leave plenty of room for the future's adaptations to surprise me.
THEREFORE, we should do things to address inequality. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am not convinced. I'm not really concerned with relative wealth; absolute wealth seems to be the thing that matters. How much food do *I* have to eat? How much fun is *my* life to live? If I am having a great time, does it *really* matter that Warren Buffett is 1,000,000,000 times wealthier than I am?
I don't think so. And if the scary thing about robots is that they will make everything cheaper (better, faster, less resource-intensive, etc), then it seems like people will tend to be absolutely better off.
I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
So robots are here, and soon there will be more of them, and they'll be way better, and they'll replace humans in large sectors of the economy. Alright. That seems true.
Therefore, he says, the rise of robots will usher in even greater inequality for a handful of reasons. Ehhhhh. Plausible, but I'm not sure it's as inevitable as the author claims. I can imagine a world wherein more benefit from economic activity goes to capital instead of labor because of robots, but I also leave plenty of room for the future's adaptations to surprise me.
THEREFORE, we should do things to address inequality. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am not convinced. I'm not really concerned with relative wealth; absolute wealth seems to be the thing that matters. How much food do *I* have to eat? How much fun is *my* life to live? If I am having a great time, does it *really* matter that Warren Buffett is 1,000,000,000 times wealthier than I am?
I don't think so. And if the scary thing about robots is that they will make everything cheaper (better, faster, less resource-intensive, etc), then it seems like people will tend to be absolutely better off.
I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
themorsecode's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent, if bleak. Basically every job at some point in the not too distant future can be done better and more cheaply by a robot, and more than likely will.
Felt like Ford disregarded existing privilege a little in his arguments about the Universal Basic Income (which must be almost guaranteed to happen, I can't see any other workable solution) but overall a very informative and wide ranging book.
Felt like Ford disregarded existing privilege a little in his arguments about the Universal Basic Income (which must be almost guaranteed to happen, I can't see any other workable solution) but overall a very informative and wide ranging book.
cheenu's review against another edition
4.0
The thesis of the book is that automation of processes across the skill spectrum is eating more jobs than it is generating. (As well as some other interesting consequences - such as "deskilling" jobs thus making them easy targets for outsourcing or wage stagnation).
His book is a mix of data and antecedents to demonstrate this is the case. Personally, I found it a little bit too heavy on antecedents and light on the data side but to be fair to the author, he is not an economist and this book is targeted for popular reading. He does do a pretty good job giving the "lay of the land" though.
If you believe that automation currently is and will be the major cause of mass employment in future, then definitely read it (that's me, so I enjoyed the book). If you're a skeptic, then don't read it unless anecdotal data works for you. I also liked his chapter on "basic income", I thought it gave a pretty good overview of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of "basic income".
His book is a mix of data and antecedents to demonstrate this is the case. Personally, I found it a little bit too heavy on antecedents and light on the data side but to be fair to the author, he is not an economist and this book is targeted for popular reading. He does do a pretty good job giving the "lay of the land" though.
If you believe that automation currently is and will be the major cause of mass employment in future, then definitely read it (that's me, so I enjoyed the book). If you're a skeptic, then don't read it unless anecdotal data works for you. I also liked his chapter on "basic income", I thought it gave a pretty good overview of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of "basic income".
szachary's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely on the alarmist side of the argument. a good augment to the second machine age. an informed reader here will need more then one perspective to really hash out the complexities of this argument.
I enjoyed this book despite my disagreements with a number of its premises.
I enjoyed this book despite my disagreements with a number of its premises.
yujtang's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25