“James Bessen is uniquely qualified to interpret technology issues, having both rich historical expertise and startup experience. I especially like the way he demystifies the concept of skills and questions the apotheosis of college diplomas and intellectual property rights. This is one of the most hopeful yet realistic books in years.”—Gavin Wright, author of Sharing the Prize: The Economics of the Civil Rights Revolution in the American South
“James Bessen’s provocative new book explores a critically important economic question: what is it that in some epochs, including today, severs the link between productivity growth and increases in the median wage? His answer, developed within a rich tapestry of historical narrative, focuses on the changing incentives faced by firms and individuals to invest in new skills and capabilities as technological systems are born, go through adolescence, and eventually mature. His analysis and policy recommendations offer many challenges to established ways of thinking.”—Alexander J. Field, author of A Great Leap Forward: 1930s Depression and US Economic Growth
"Today everyone agrees that education is the key to wage growth. But what kind of education? In this enlightening and insightful book, James Bessen shows that economic history can provide some useful and surprising answers to this question."—Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google
“James Bessen, an acute observer of economics and technology, thinks lags from learning-by-doing explain why the IT revolution hasn’t yet boosted wages. A fascinating hypothesis—and book.”—Eric S. Maskin, Nobel laureate in Economics
Reviews / Articles about
Harvard Business Review
"...the value of any technology is unlocked incrementally, Bessen argues, perhaps over a generation, through on-the-job learning. Weavers working with early power looms produced two and a half times as much cloth per hour as their predecessors who used handlooms; 80 years later, they produced 50 times as much. It’s therefore the adopters and adapters of a technology—not its inventors—who create much of its value." —Walt Frick in Harvard Business Review, March 2015
Wall Street Journal
"The issues at the heart of “Learning by Doing” come into sharp relief when James Bessen visits a retail distribution center near Boston that was featured on “60 Minutes” two years ago. The TV segment, titled “Are Robots Hurting Job Growth?,” combined gotcha reporting with vintage movie clips—scary-looking Hollywood robots—to tell a chilling tale of human displacement and runaway job loss.
Mr. Bessen isn’t buying it. Although robots at the distribution center have eliminated some jobs, he says, they have created others—for production workers, technicians and managers. The problem at automated workplaces isn’t the robots. It’s the lack of qualified workers. New jobs “require specialized skills,” Mr. Bessen writes, but workers with these skills “are in short supply.”
It is a deeply contrarian view. The conventional wisdom about robots and other new workplace technology is that they do more harm than good, destroying jobs and hollowing out the middle class." --Tamar Jacoby, Wall Street Journal. Read more.
Vox.com
"The past 30 years have seen amazing progress in computer technology, and that progress has transformed a wide variety of American industries. Yet that same 30-year period has been a disappointment when it comes to the incomes of ordinary Americans.
A new book by economist James Bessen argues that it's not surprising for new technologies to be associated with stagnant wages. Indeed, something similar happened in America's first high-tech boom: the textile industry of the mid-1800s. From 1830 to 1860, cloth production skyrocketed; wages barely budged.A new book by economist James Bessen argues that it's not surprising for new technologies to be associated with stagnant wages. Indeed, something similar happened in America's first high-tech boom: the textile industry of the mid-1800s. From 1830 to 1860, cloth production skyrocketed; wages barely budged." --Tim Lee, Vox.com. Read more.
Booklist
“This important book is well written, clearly argued, and makes numerous salient points regarding the interactions between technological change, skill attainment, and earnings.”—J.P. Jacobsen
Financial World
"Sometimes a book seems to fit so neatly with a reader’s own preconceptions that one does not know whether to say “well done” or be irritated that someone else got there first. This is one of those books. . . I can only concur: competence with emerging technology does not require a university diploma. But it does require an enabling environment."—Andrew Hilton
The Enlightened Economist
"James Bessen’s book Learning By Doing: The Real Connection between Innovation, Wages and Wealth is excellent. It strikes a balance between meaty analysis and description of historical episodes of technical change, and is at the same time very accessible." --Diane Coyle, Read more.
Techdirt
"Bessen's book is a great read ...suggesting that we shouldn't be so worried about new technologies destroying jobs, but rather how it's creating a skills gap that needs to be dealt with, so that more people can make better use of the technology that we have and the technology that is on the way. Check it out." --Mike Masnick, Read more.
Technology Liberation Front
"...a good book to check out if you are worried about whether workers will be able to weather this latest wave of technological innovation. One of the key insights of Bessen’s book is that, as with previous periods of turbulent technological change, today’s workers and businesses will obviously need find ways to adapt to rapidly-changing marketplace realities brought on by the Information Revolution, robotics, and automated systems." --Adam Thierer, Read more.
"...the value of any technology is unlocked incrementally, Bessen argues, perhaps over a generation, through on-the-job learning. Weavers working with early power looms produced two and a half times as much cloth per hour as their predecessors who used handlooms; 80 years later, they produced 50 times as much. It’s therefore the adopters and adapters of a technology—not its inventors—who create much of its value." —Walt Frick in Harvard Business Review, March 2015
Wall Street Journal
"The issues at the heart of “Learning by Doing” come into sharp relief when James Bessen visits a retail distribution center near Boston that was featured on “60 Minutes” two years ago. The TV segment, titled “Are Robots Hurting Job Growth?,” combined gotcha reporting with vintage movie clips—scary-looking Hollywood robots—to tell a chilling tale of human displacement and runaway job loss.
Mr. Bessen isn’t buying it. Although robots at the distribution center have eliminated some jobs, he says, they have created others—for production workers, technicians and managers. The problem at automated workplaces isn’t the robots. It’s the lack of qualified workers. New jobs “require specialized skills,” Mr. Bessen writes, but workers with these skills “are in short supply.”
It is a deeply contrarian view. The conventional wisdom about robots and other new workplace technology is that they do more harm than good, destroying jobs and hollowing out the middle class." --Tamar Jacoby, Wall Street Journal. Read more.
Vox.com
"The past 30 years have seen amazing progress in computer technology, and that progress has transformed a wide variety of American industries. Yet that same 30-year period has been a disappointment when it comes to the incomes of ordinary Americans.
A new book by economist James Bessen argues that it's not surprising for new technologies to be associated with stagnant wages. Indeed, something similar happened in America's first high-tech boom: the textile industry of the mid-1800s. From 1830 to 1860, cloth production skyrocketed; wages barely budged.A new book by economist James Bessen argues that it's not surprising for new technologies to be associated with stagnant wages. Indeed, something similar happened in America's first high-tech boom: the textile industry of the mid-1800s. From 1830 to 1860, cloth production skyrocketed; wages barely budged." --Tim Lee, Vox.com. Read more.
Booklist
“This important book is well written, clearly argued, and makes numerous salient points regarding the interactions between technological change, skill attainment, and earnings.”—J.P. Jacobsen
Financial World
"Sometimes a book seems to fit so neatly with a reader’s own preconceptions that one does not know whether to say “well done” or be irritated that someone else got there first. This is one of those books. . . I can only concur: competence with emerging technology does not require a university diploma. But it does require an enabling environment."—Andrew Hilton
The Enlightened Economist
"James Bessen’s book Learning By Doing: The Real Connection between Innovation, Wages and Wealth is excellent. It strikes a balance between meaty analysis and description of historical episodes of technical change, and is at the same time very accessible." --Diane Coyle, Read more.
Techdirt
"Bessen's book is a great read ...suggesting that we shouldn't be so worried about new technologies destroying jobs, but rather how it's creating a skills gap that needs to be dealt with, so that more people can make better use of the technology that we have and the technology that is on the way. Check it out." --Mike Masnick, Read more.
Technology Liberation Front
"...a good book to check out if you are worried about whether workers will be able to weather this latest wave of technological innovation. One of the key insights of Bessen’s book is that, as with previous periods of turbulent technological change, today’s workers and businesses will obviously need find ways to adapt to rapidly-changing marketplace realities brought on by the Information Revolution, robotics, and automated systems." --Adam Thierer, Read more.