In an essay in The Wall Street Journal last month, Harvard University economist Lawrence Summers envisioned a world in which computers and machines displace a vast new array of human work, creating an economy that produced few opportunities and sources of income for actual people. Taxis wouldn’t need drivers, nor retailers cashiers or banks financial analysts. “The challenge for economic policy will increasingly be generating enough work for all who need work for income, purchasing power and dignity,” he argued. David Autor, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor, argues in a paper to be ... (full story)