MIT Professors Simon Johnson & Elisabeth Reynolds Talk the future of America's Tech Leadership - podcast episode cover

MIT Professors Simon Johnson & Elisabeth Reynolds Talk the future of America's Tech Leadership

May 11, 202612 min
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Episode description

Simon Johnson & Elisabeth Reynolds, professors at MIT, join Bloomberg's Tom Keene and Paul Sweeney to discuss how six sectors may determine the future of America's tech leadership.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

Speaker 2

This is a joy. My book of the summer is a guy out at Berkeley. That's a school Simon out in the West. I don't know if you've heard of it. Barry chen Green with a wonderful book on that currency. But this is the cool book at the beach. Like, if you're looking for a man in finance six', five you're out in The. Hampton's you need a book that you're going. To it's. Slim it's a fabulous must read

of one hundred and forty. Pages Elizabeth reynolds With Simon johnson and they join us now from The Massachusetts institute Of. TECHNOLOGIES i can't say enough about the directness of. That what's it like dealing with a forward from A nobel, Laureate like do you edit?

Speaker 3

Him you?

Speaker 4

Know, cautiously very.

Speaker 2

CAUTIOUSLY i look at the technology here and it's affecting every, listener every person's. Life what's the priority technology right now for people not enjoying the technology.

Speaker 3

Juggernaut, well we in.

Speaker 4

The book point to six different technologies that we think are really. Important obviously there are. MORE i would start with some of the foundational, Technologies so the critical minerals that go into all of our, products including. Semiconductors semiconductors in our we talk about as the oxygen of the modern. Economy so those are two of the technologies we talk, about but we also talk about advanced.

Speaker 2

Manufacturing are you surprised that the technology juggernaut semi conductors is in the price is in a pricing, moonshot like the costpy is straight? Up semi conductors are straight. Up were you taken aback by?

Speaker 4

That not? PARTICULARLY i think we see the writing on the wall in terms of the, demand particularly with data, centers et. Cetera so the strategy to build more capacity in THE US i think is going to pay.

Speaker 5

Off, Simon do you think THE us, Government, well first of, all the markets are trying to figure out WHAT ai is on a daily. Basis IF i weren't for this war In, iran that would be front and center as it has been for three. Years do you think THE us government has an industrial policy for technology for some of these critical issues that you guys hold, Out.

Speaker 1

Well they certainly have something that has industrial policy. ELEMENTS i think it's a bit random and not sufficiently. COHERENT i think they're also having to rethink it in a hurry because of What anthropic has just shown. Them so they realize that just sitting back and let the market decide is not great if all your cybersecurity is on the.

Speaker 5

Line And, elizabeth it seems once again that THE us is leading. HERE i look To, EUROPE i see. NOTHING i look To, ASIA i do see some very good technology coming out Of. China, well once again it seems to be THE us is on the cutting edge of some of THESE ai and other, technologies AND i think historically that's because we've had a very light touch from the.

Speaker 3

Government how do you expect that to go.

Speaker 5

Forward do you expect THE us to continue to be a.

Speaker 3

Leader here or is that not a?

Speaker 2

Given?

Speaker 4

WELL i think certainly AN ai we're seeing all the benefits of THE us ecosystem playing. Out but As simon AND, i you, know have, written winning THE ai race is not, enough, right it's how you apply THE ai across technologies that. Matter and that's where actually we see The chinese are very strong on the implementation and on the, adoption and that's WHERE i think we need to.

Speaker 2

Be and This monday Across, America Elizabeth reynolds is with us in The Massachusetts institute Of. Technology The ford Is Simon. Johnson of, course you, know The Nobel prize winner this year for any number of good. Things AND i have stated many many times over the years the most singular pressient person on the financial crisis THAT i. Know we'll talk about that in a, Bit, simon why did you

get behind this? BOOK i, mean you can do anything you want if you're going to fix the red, Sox i'm told In, June but why did you get behind this?

Speaker 1

Book more good, Jobs, Tom that's what we. NEED i think that's what's going wrong with this democracy is that we haven't delivered For Middle, america middle, skills middle, education middle of the.

Speaker 3

Country. Geographically we lost.

Speaker 2

It it feels like it's not everybody can learn, calculus not everybody can Learn. Claude, right, yeah, right.

Speaker 1

Absolutely so there's a lot of jobs that require different kind of coulfnur, abilities different kind of manual. Abilities that's what we used to have in. MANUFACTURING i don't think you can bring back the jobs in traditional, manufacturing although that's.

Speaker 3

Going to be, automated is already being.

Speaker 1

Automated but you can own the frontier you can push hard on the, frontier and the frontier of technology will deliver more good.

Speaker 5

JOBS i think the discussion OF ai has overshadowed something that people were talking about and, saying boy, this we better get this, right and that is quantum. Computing what does that mean to you, guys and how do you guys look at it?

Speaker 4

Right so quantum is one of the chapters that our Colleagues Will oliver And Jonathan royne Wrote quantum, is you, know the next frontier and opens, up you, know billions of dollars of, opportunity not just for defense and encryption, issues but also across all sorts of applications and financial services and. Biopharma and what we hear from our colleagues is the big risk for THE us is some kind of quantum. Winter that what quantum really requires right now

is continued investment and the science and. Technology and it's not just the, science it's also the.

Speaker 2

Engineering two heavyweights for, this. Folks did you see this weekend somebody at a private, survey like a real survey of fancy schools and the number one school was on The Charles river In boston and they don't have a football. Team, yeah it was. Amazing M i t came in number, one which was. Great WHAT i love about this Is elizabeth footnotes. Throughout here's A johnson Footnote baker And. Johnson

will THE us continue to dominate? Science most of our listeners and viewers question, that are we at risk of losing our? Science?

Speaker 1

Yes, absolutely, well not losing our, science but losing our leadership to that's two To. China china has come up a long way in the past twenty Five, Yes china's running now connect WITH us and a lot of these frontier technology.

Speaker 2

They're doing legit research like AT, mit like, it Cal tech like, it the. Others. Yes.

Speaker 1

Absolutely our expert friends Include rafael rifle, or president OF, mit looked at that technologies in great detail and they come away impressed that now they're not in the lead, yet but they're running neck and neck.

Speaker 3

With, us AND i think this is a very real threat that we need to take.

Speaker 5

Seriously So simon going to that, point Since World War, two one could, argue this is HOW i understand it that some of the technological leadership that THE us has had has been a public private. Partnership THE us government and universities such AS mit and My duke and you do it, together and that's where the great medicines come. From that's where the great technologies come. From how much is that at risk right?

Speaker 3

Now, OH i think it's very much at. RISK i think it's been called into.

Speaker 1

Question the funding is obviously down roughly speaking ten percent in terms of impact on the flow of graduate. Students one new graduate student who doesn't go to school now is a loss of, innovation a loss of new companies down the, road because once they've been in school for a, five, six, seven eight, years they become extremely, knowledgeable they very.

Speaker 3

Specialized they know where the opportunity these. Are they set up.

Speaker 1

Companies the post docs are some of the most productive people in terms of generating new companies and new. Jobs so we're going to we're losing all of that, already and the trajectory is not positive at this particular.

Speaker 3

Moment is there a fix?

Speaker 5

There From MIT's, PERSPECTIVE i, mean is It i'm guessing the taser the world and everybody's got to adapt somehow.

Speaker 4

WELL i think there's, adaption but there's also. CHECKING i think some of the bad policies and steps we've, seen so cutting back on funding not. Great the uncertainty not. Great throwing sand in the gears not. Great and then immigration policy THAT i think is essentially trying putting at bay a lot of the best. Talent, well, look mean this is.

Speaker 2

Critical this came up like eight times this week and including good Morning Bard college up The Hudson. River fabulous time There friday at The Levy. INSTITUTE i, mean as simple AS i can do you look at the immigration realities of twenty twenty. Six is, reversible, Simon.

Speaker 3

Yes they can be.

Speaker 1

Reversed we can understand again as we used to, understand that letting foreign graduate students into THE us is important for our national. Security that's how you race With china in terms of. Talent china has one point four billion, people as you, know but we have the rest of the world if we let the talented people, in which is what we did in the nineteen fifties sixties After, sputnik A National Defense Education act put money into Educating.

Americans that's. Complimentary you're letting in the foreign graduate. Students of COURSE i was a foreign graduate, student so that's.

Speaker 2

Declear Spot mick is a personal thing of the. Family and you know the skunk works at ninety and all, That. Elizabeth can we have a Spot nick? Moment can we all Go Donald fagan and have an ig y? AGAIN i think so for.

Speaker 4

Sure if you, look, actually we have a fair amount of consensus about what we need to. Do previous, administration this administration doubling down on, semiconductors critical, minerals, defense. Drones there's a lot of consensus on what we have to.

Speaker 3

Do can we call That?

Speaker 2

PHOENIX i was just out In phoenix and it's. Amazing it's a boom. Economy can we Do phoenix on The East? Coast?

Speaker 4

Oh, yeah it's a little. Bit it's perhaps going to be in other niche, areas but we have extreme capabilities in the semiconductor, space also in the defense, space in the biopharma.

Speaker 2

Space of, Course pau'll get one more in, here because THEN i got to Beat Simon johnson to. Death.

Speaker 5

Simon if the talented folks from around the world are not coming to THE, us where are they?

Speaker 1

Going, well a little bit In, europe Although europe is not upping its, game so they're missing that.

Speaker 3

Opportunity THE uk is trying hard in the.

Speaker 1

Space The british recently maybe AN ai, ambassador which is a great, honor Whether i'm an ambassador TO ai or FROM. Ai we're still talking about. That BUT i think a lot of times they're going into other. Areas they're not going into. Research they're going to have, good productive lives. Elsewhere so you're losing the talent from the scientific machinery and you never get it.

Speaker 2

BACK i got to do a digression. Here the book Is Priority technologies Of Elizabeth. Reynolds but since we Have Professor johnson in the studios and he's taken parchment here From scandinavian, elite we're going to have to bug. Here your book in two thousand and eight nine had one paragraph in chapter four which, said this was the moment where the sec let the genie out of the bottle

and they brought forward the financial. Crisis do we have the lack of humility now to repeat that, exercise given private, credit given some of the excesses of our. Financialization, Yes i'm.

Speaker 3

Afraid So i'm.

Speaker 1

Amazed actually told me it's taken so long because usually you forget everything, right and people into markets they. Did many people in markets today weren't working in two thousand and.

Speaker 3

Eight SO i fear not so.

Speaker 1

Much the private credit although of course that could be the ignition for what. HAPPENS i think it's the big banks reducing the levels of, capital reducing their buffers against.

Speaker 3

Losses we had really seen that movie.

Speaker 1

Before in, fact it was made into many movies tom which we, saw and still we're going to repeat that same.

Speaker 2

Mistake one final, Question, elizabeth can you just tell me about? IT i, mean the other school on The Charles rivers mental about great inflation right? Now is great inflation AT? MIT i mean it's.

Speaker 4

BRUTAL i think it's been a problem generally in the, country AND i think schools are addressing it. NOW i THINK i should leave it at.

Speaker 2

That so the Alumnus Troy gayski would tell me that there's no great inflation in engineering because he got a one point five is freshman year. There as everybody, said, oh this is. Hard but the great inflation even AT, mit, NO i don't.

Speaker 3

Think so that's WHAT i wanted to get go.

Speaker 2

Away of, course there's great inflation there priority, technologies. Folks this is the mustering summary ON ai manufacturing, technology all of. It it's just a fabulous effort By Elizabeth, reynolds With Simon johnson helping out from The Massachusetts institute Of, technology

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