Doctor Who, the Popular Musical

Below the fold (jumpbreak? I never know what to call it...) are some videos featuring one of my current favorite shows and a couple of my current favorite bands.

Our New Computer Overlords

Three links on how computers will replace our white-collar labor force long before robots steal our blue-collar jobs.

The first comes from Paul Krugman:

Anyway, I decided to write the piece around a conceit: that information technology would end up reducing, not increasing, the demand for highly educated workers, because a lot of what highly educated workers do could actually be replaced by sophisticated information processing — indeed, replaced more easily than a lot of manual labor.

[...] In my mind this raises several questions. One is whether emphasizing education — even aside from the fact that the big rise in inequality has taken place among the highly educated — is, in effect, fighting the last war. Another is how we have a decent society if and when even highly educated workers can’t command a middle-class income.

The second also comes from Paul Krugman, and I particularly like it for this table:

"This is real, and it calls some of our favorite platitudes into question," Krugman says.

Brad DeLong, on the other hand, has an excellent post in which economics and history triumph over cynicism (and yes, it's a lot like intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism):

We have already gone through the great transformation by which the general business of life--growing and processing our food, building our shelter, weaving our clothes, and telling ourselves stories for information and entertainment--has been extroardinarily [sic], comprehensively automated. And yet we have found things to do.

 Either way, I'd say this is the best argument yet for the long term viability of a career in the humanities!

What's There to Say?

Due to trying to get one paper ready for a coauthor and another ready for journal submission, I don't have a lot to say today. However, you might want to check out my new post on the financial crisis and inequality at the Institute.

If you're not in the mood for light economic analysis, here's something simpler and more amusing, at least to my household right now:

Oh, and my wife pointed out that my scheduled posting times (10AM EDT) might be a tad late in the day for some readers. Is that true? Would you prefer my posts be up as soon as you are?