Going beyond technical to other intangible skills
One of the key points of the intangible capital framework is that it stresses the importance of multiple forms of capital. Technical assets and skills, embedded in both human capital and structural...
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July employment in tangible and intangible industries
Today's employment numbers from the BLS show continued job growth with payrolls up by 215,000 in July. This was only slightly below economists' forecast of 225,000. Last month's number was also revised...
View ArticleAutomation: Labor augmenting or substituting? Yes.
One of the biggest questions concerning automation/robots/artificial intelligence is whether it augments human labor or is a substitute. A recent "Open Letter on the Digital Economy" outlined a...
View ArticleThe interplay of technology and know-how: the case of cotton mills
In discussions about technology and innovation is all too easy to focus on the patented technology. Other important concomitant intangible assets are thought to appear as if by magic. The reality is...
View ArticleGone the way of the horse?
As I've noted recently, one of the biggest questions concerning automation/robots/artificial intelligence is whether it augments human labor or is a substitute. And one of the more interesting bits of...
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2015 Small Business Friendliness Survey
Earlier this week, Thumbtack.com released its 2015 survey of small business attitudes toward state and local government (see previous posting for 2013 and 2014. I find this survey especially...
View ArticleNew OECD report on intellectual property
The OECD has released a new report entitled Enquiries Into Intellectual Property's Economic Impact. The report is part of Phase 2 of their project on New Sources of Growth: Knowledge-Based Capital. A...
View ArticleThoughts on tech displacement
There's a new paper out by Joel Mokyr, Chris Vickers, and Nicolas L. Ziebarth on "The History of Technological Anxiety and the Future of Economic Growth: Is This Time Different?" The paper looks at...
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OECD on productivity
In Monday's posting on OECD's recent report on intellectual property there was a discussion on the role of patents in the diffusion of knowledge. Another recent OECD report from their Future of...
View ArticleNext Production Revolution - OECD
And continuing with OECD activities, here is the outline of a new project on the Next Production Revolution:The objective of the OECD work on the 'Next Production Revolution' in 2015-2016 is to examine...
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R&D investment up in second estimate of 2Q 2015 GDP
The U.S. grew faster last quarter than thought according to the second estimate of GDP data released this morning from BEA. In this latest estimate, GDP is up 3.7% in the second quarter of this year....
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What the annual GDP revised data tells us
When BEA released its advanced estimate of GDP last month, it also released its annual revisions. Those revisions go back to 1969 and include more data on Intellectual Property Products (IPP). First,...
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July trade in intangibles
The U.S. trade deficit declined by $3.3 billion in July, according to data released this morning from BEA. Exports were up by $0.8 billion and imports were down by $2.5 billion. Economists had expected...
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August employment in tangible and intangible industries
Today's employment numbers from BLS is somewhat mixed news. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5.1% in August but payrolls increased by only 173,000. Economists had expected an increase of...
View ArticleThank you and goodbye
It is time to say goodbye. I have taken a new position as Senior Program Officer at the National Academy of Engineering for their Manufacturing, Design and Innovation (MDI) program (see program...
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