Issues

The Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Privacy

New data collection technologies raise privacy issues for consumers. Educational technologies and “smart cars” present new issues. Every aspect of life will be logged and analyzed. We must revisit basic ideas about democracy, the distribution of power in society, and bias.

Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy

Facebook and other tech firms have failed to filter out racism and other harmful ideas from the public sphere and encourage people to express themselves in shallow ways. The idea that the Internet would lead to more freedom and more competition was a myth.

Shifting Institutional Roles in Biomedical Innovation in a Learning Healthcare System

In future, health care outcomes will be guided by a learning healthcare system, which uses data from patients to evaluate treatments. Some data derived in clinical settings might be of low quality. The FDA now evaluates more treatments using data collected after the treatment begins to be used.

Interventions Over Predictions: Reframing the Ethical Debate for Actuarial Risk Assessment

Machine learning is now being used in the criminal justice system. Because these systems focus on accuracy of prediction and ignore factors that drive crime, they can exacerbate problems of mass incarceration and inequality.

Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?

Economic growth arises when people create ideas. Evidence from a wide range of industries, products, and firms shows that while the number of researchers is increasing, their productivity is falling. Large increases in research will offset its declining productivity.

Running Out of Time: The Impact and Value of Flexibility in On-Demand Crowdwork

Workers in on-demand digital labor markets often have little control over their schedules. Giving workers more control yields more work product without loss of quality. Workers value control of their pace of work.

Demographics and Automation

Some predict that economic growth will slow in countries with rapidly aging populations. But data shows that firms respond to scarcity of middle-aged workers by automating. These firms become more productive.

Navigating Talent Hot Spots

Cities like Boston and Beijing are talent “hot spots.” Firms need a presence in these hot spots but relocating to such areas is costly. Firms use three different strategies to establish ties to talent hot spots, while limiting cost and disruption.

The Federal Trade Commission's Inner Privacy Struggle

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) privacy cases involve attorneys in the Bureau of Consumer Protection and economists in the Bureau of Economics, who are skeptical of privacy crusades. In future, the Bureau of Economics will play a larger role.

The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy & Society

Global talent flows drive innovation and economic growth. High-skilled workers are drawn to destinations where they can work with other skilled workers. Immigration tends to benefit everyone, although it will always be controversial because of losses to those displaced by migration.