011: Review of McAfee and Brynjolfsson’s SECOND MACHINE AGE




Constellation: Making the Graphic Novel show

Summary: In this extra-long podcast, we review the important new book from MIT's Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, THE SECOND MACHINE AGE: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. The first half is a detailed, Cliffs-Notes version of the book's arguments for those that have not read it; others may want to skip to our criticisms, which begin in earnest at 00:38. The book details how technological progress is driving growth of both 'bounty' and 'spread,' and makes a compelling argument for the possibility of technological unemployment occurring. It also makes suggestions for the long and short term, and there is where we have most of our disagreements with the authors.