A troubling issue of technological and creative innovation has come to light in a journal of Applied Research in Economic Development where the Economic Development Curmudgeon reviewed Enrico Moretti’s The New Geography of Jobs. The article clearly outlines examples of how an innovation of knowledge-based economics is causing not just economic inequality, but much broader, cultural separation of communities. One of the main theme, which the author is trying to convey, seems to be that creative innovation leads to geographical agglomeration that gravitates smarter, more innovative thinkers and in return improve the vibe of the neighborhood both in terms of community’s overall economy and infrastructure. But at the same time, this accumulation of skilled workers ends up driving out unskilled, materialistic manufacturing jobs, and instead giving rise and prosperity to “advanced manufacturing, information technology, life sciences, medical devices, robotics, composites and nanotechnology – any jobs that generate new ideas and new products.”
Innovation in technology in an economic sense seems to be a hot topic currently because of the events that are unfolding in New York City. In Williamsburg and Greenpoint, many of the manufacturing jobs that once existed due to factories along the waterfront have migrated over to the less-expensive labor force in countries like China and India. An area once lined with garbage and empty factories now holds expensive apartments and condominiums. New York City is becoming the new place for a skilled workforce where people without certain skills need to move to places that have affordable jobs and neighborhoods. It is a problem that we are facing as New York City is becoming more and more popular by venture capital investments. In the end, we never know what will happen to New York City, but be optimistic that our dependence on technology and on innovative workers will improve the economy.
Technology and innovation come with both the good and the bad, but overall it’s neutral. There are benefits and consequences. For instance, cellphones have allowed instant communication between people across the globe, further more instant messaging lead a convenient way to send and receive messages. People no longer need to figure out a free time to meet up in the midst of their busy schedules, and made traveling to meet someone obsolete. Unfortunately, on the other hand, many younger technology generations now text in broken English and fail to form proper English sentences, as some studies have shown. Also, many social and psychological research have shown that modern teenagers have difficulty in social skills because many of them sit behind their computer screens wasting away precious hours. Here is one extreme example of the good and the bad of innovation. Internet allows infinite amount of knowledge at hand. It is very simple for one person to search up whatever they are curious about and to find a relatively good answer to it. However, innovation has also led certain terrorist organizations to operate easier and more efficiently. Yes, this is an extreme example of the good and the bad of innovation but what I’m trying to say is that despite the negative impacts of innovation, there’s always positive impacts that can sometimes tilt the scale just a bit over to the other side. It is hard to predict what technological innovation will bring about in the future, but I think that improvements will outweigh consequences. I see myself as a techno-optimist, but more specifically quasi-optimist. I think technology has improved our lives better little by little despite the problems, and will continue to do so in the future.
You make excellent arguments on both sides, Jonathan. But I am less optimistic, even less “quasi optimistic,” than you. Technology is neutral in the sense that humans and organizations apply it to their advantage, so it can make people or cities poorer as well as richer. I wonder how many “good” jobs new technologies will create, and where they will be.
Professor Zukin