Competition in the Digital Age
In a fascinating blog post, Adam Ozimek makes the case that we will see much more individualized pricing (which economists call "first degree price discrimination") as more data mining becomes available. For instance, in a new working paper, Ben Shiller is able to use big data to massively improve his ability to predict demand for Netflix subscriptions by any given individual: …
Continue reading "Will Big Data Create a Personalized Pricing Nirvana for Retailers?"
I teach at a School of Management so you won’t be surprised to learn that I think good management can make a huge difference in the performance of companies, and ultimately the economy. But you may be surprised that there is very little economic research on the effects of management. Sure, there’s lots of speculation and countless …
Continue reading "The State of Performance-driven Management in America"
Big data has the potential to revolutionize management. Simply put, because of big data, managers can measure, and hence know, radically more about their businesses, and directly translate that knowledge into improved decision making and performance. Of course, companies such as Google and Amazon are already doing this. After all, we expect companies that were …
Tom Edsall does a nice job summarizing the increasing hollowing out of the job market in his New York Times column today. The employment/population ratio has fallen drastically since 1999 even as Real GDP hit an all time high this month. Edsall quotes Andy McAfee and me arguing that technological progress is part of the …
One of the most famous quotations in economics points out how the market system enables each person’s self-interest to benefit others: It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. That’s from The Wealth of Nations. But …
MIT is expanding and enhancing its offerings of free online courses. Anyone with access to the Internet can take the courses and earn a certificate demonstrating mastery of the subject. Students will have a chance interact with each other electronically and most of the grading will either be done via an app or by students …
Hat tip: Andrew McAfee
This morning, I discussed Race Against the Machine with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and rest of MSNBC's Morning Joe gang at 30 Rock. Here's the video. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640
http://s.marketwatch.com/media/swf/main.swf Have we reached a technological plateau or is innovation still going strong? If you've read my book with Andy McAfee, you know where I stand. David Wessel of the WSJ discusses the pros and cons of the argument and ties it to our current economic woes in this five minute video.
The past decade has been terrible in terms of job growth and median wage growth, and sadly that was true even before it culminated in the worst recession since the 1930s. But not all the news is bad. Although it’s not much discussed, this has actually been the best decade since the 1960s for productivity …
Digitopoly 