Cracks in The Great Stagnation with Caleb Watney
Jun 06, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Episode description
Caleb Watney (@calebwatney), Director of Innovation Policy at Progressive Policy Institute, joins Erik to discuss:
- How views have changed on whether we are in a great stagnation, and what someone from the 1970s who was brought to 2021 would think about the technological changes in the interim.
- Whether a technological slowdown is inevitable or a choice that a society makes.
- The fact that COVID drastically accelerated adoption of technology that was already in existence.
- Caleb’s view that there has been a slowdown in both the pace of scientific discoveries as well as the commercialization of those discoveries.
- The decline of the industrial research lab and the fact that there is more competition in technology today.
- Whether certain institutions need to be “retired” after a certain period of time.
- The incentives that distort immigration policy and the possibility of turning immigration officers into “talent scouts.”
- Why fertility rates are falling and how to allow people to have the number of kids that they say they want to have.
- The power of agglomeration clusters and what portion of work will revert back to in-person once the pandemic ends.
- How views have changed on whether we are in a great stagnation, and what someone from the 1970s who was brought to 2021 would think about the technological changes in the interim.
- Whether a technological slowdown is inevitable or a choice that a society makes.
- The fact that COVID drastically accelerated adoption of technology that was already in existence.
- Caleb’s view that there has been a slowdown in both the pace of scientific discoveries as well as the commercialization of those discoveries.
- The decline of the industrial research lab and the fact that there is more competition in technology today.
- Whether certain institutions need to be “retired” after a certain period of time.
- The incentives that distort immigration policy and the possibility of turning immigration officers into “talent scouts.”
- Why fertility rates are falling and how to allow people to have the number of kids that they say they want to have.
- The power of agglomeration clusters and what portion of work will revert back to in-person once the pandemic ends.