Obviously Reich’s influence went way beyond just me. Alongside other authors such as Anthony Giddens[411] and Jeremy Rifkin[412], he was instrumental in crafting the message of a new generation of progressive leaders that the era of the steady, lifelong job was over. In a more global and unstable world, lifelong education was the new key to providi

In the presence of increasing returns to scale, raising a lot of money is not only a way to finance operations. It is also a signal to all stakeholders (shareholders, customers, employees, analysts) that a company is on track to become the leader and grab most of the market. This is why tech companies advertise their funding rounds so noisily[255].

The stakes are high. New legal frameworks should make it possible to harness technology and achieve a radical upheaval of the way of life for both adventurous hunters and settling families at every level of the income ladder. If they fail to accommodate both populations, the danger is for every large city to be inhabited only by very rich hunters a

Without social progress at home, the pro-free trade stand is no longer associated with prosperity and economic security. Rather, it is perceived as exposing workers to instability, lowered purchasing power and accelerating unemployment in sectors of the economy that are no longer competitive on the global stage.

In a second scenario, it is Europe that would forge ahead and tackle the new institutional challenges without relying on the US anymore. But this scenario is uncertain at best. As world leaders and experts look at Europe, what they see is a continent in disarray—one that is “disappearing into itself”, as it was once put by Kevin Rudd, the former Pr

This explains the idea of promoting a Greater Safety Net for networked individuals rather than for corporations—a hedge designed to cover us against all critical risks and empower us in our many interactions with other economic agents, all without the intermediation of the proxies (large corporations, the state) on which the Great Safety Net 1.0 ha

This can be seen in how conservatives keep on stressing the importance of “ownership” as the best safety net for households[97], the inflating bubble of student loans, or the excessive reliance on consumption driven by credit card debt. With the financial system as the only mechanism for sustaining production and consumption, today’s problem is les

Because of the widespread instability, it’s not enough for a business to be the market leader or the most profitable company. Rather the stake is to take the vast majority of the market[254], at (almost) any cost. Those who generate superior increasing returns to scale can crush competition and realize a sizable return on investment over the long t

All in all, technology doesn’t make jobs irrelevant—far from it, as suggested by the uninterrupted growth of proximity services in expanding urban areas.