All Research

All Research

The Gig Economy Benefits Freelance Workers—Until Regulation Steps In
Article
AEIdeas

The Gig Economy Benefits Freelance Workers—Until Regulation Steps In

In recent years, the gig economy has become a lightning rod for political debate. Lawmakers and activists warn that Uber drivers, online freelancers, and other contract workers are trapped in…

Pew Survey Shows Growing Skepticism Toward Federal Censorship of Online Speech
Article
AEIdeas

Pew Survey Shows Growing Skepticism Toward Federal Censorship of Online Speech

A recent Pew Research Center survey suggests slightly more public support––albeit still far from optimal––for a robust online marketplace of ideas in which the federal government and technology companies refrain…

Let the Market Work
Article
AEIdeas

Let the Market Work

The Trump administration is trying to fix a market that isn’t broken—and in doing so, it risks breaking the parts that are working just fine. That’s the irony at the…

Are Software Jobs Collapsing?
Article
AEIdeas

Are Software Jobs Collapsing?

The image below, which appeared in the Financial Times, has been gaining traction on the Internet because it seems to show what people in the software industry fear most: The…

Reclaimed Words and a Meta Oversight Board Decision Reveal Problems with Policing Online Hate Speech
Article
AEIdeas

Reclaimed Words and a Meta Oversight Board Decision Reveal Problems with Policing Online Hate Speech

To appreciate the complexities of policing online hate speech that underlie an April summary decision by Meta’s Oversight Board, let’s start with a musical detour through a 2017 US Supreme…

Expect an AI Shock to Change the Job Market, Not Destroy It
Article
AEIdeas

Expect an AI Shock to Change the Job Market, Not Destroy It

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “The Real Story of the ‘China Shock‘,” economists James J. Heckman (a Nobel laureate at the University of Chicago) and Hanming Fang (University of…

The Intelligence of Things Is Here—Reflections from Google I/O 2025
Article
AEIdeas

The Intelligence of Things Is Here—Reflections from Google I/O 2025

Recently, I had the privilege of attending Google’s I/O developer conference with colleagues Will Rinehart and Shane Tews. The event featured (literally) 100 AI announcements and live demonstrations, including Waymo…

What Economists Are Learning About AI, Jobs, and Local Economies
Article
AEIdeas

What Economists Are Learning About AI, Jobs, and Local Economies

Conventional wisdom about artificial intelligence runs in two directions—utopian and dystopian. On one hand, we’re told that AI will usher in explosive productivity, endless efficiency, and new industries we can’t…

A Tale of Two Satellite Broadband Policies: The US and South Africa
Article
AEIdeas

A Tale of Two Satellite Broadband Policies: The US and South Africa

On Tuesday, technology writer Patience Haggin claimed that in the US, “rural internet is still so bad, some states are turning to outer space.” The article referred to the growing…

How Meta Thinks About Personalization and Privacy
Article
AEIdeas

How Meta Thinks About Personalization and Privacy

Personalization, which tailors content based on user preference, has become widely used on virtually every social media platform. By providing users with relevant content that appeals to their unique interests,…

Generative AI and Fabricated Judicial Opinions: A Slow Learning Curve for Some Attorneys
Article
AEIdeas

Generative AI and Fabricated Judicial Opinions: A Slow Learning Curve for Some Attorneys

On the final day of my civil procedure course, Professor Brian Landsberg offered a piece of advice. At first blush, it seemingly had nothing to do with the myriad federal…

No More Tappers: Get Skin in the Game
Article
AEIdeas

No More Tappers: Get Skin in the Game

Irony of ironies: Outrage around Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book, Original Sin, is helping to sell more copies. The failure of a CNN anchor and an Axios reporter to…

Regulating Complex and Uncertain AI Technologies
Article
AEIdeas

Regulating Complex and Uncertain AI Technologies

A common cognitive bias, in which decision-makers unconsciously substitute a complex problem with a simpler, related one, was first described in 2002 by Daniel Kahneman and Shane Frederick. The concept…

The House Should Act Quickly to Repeal the Illegal, Expensive E-Rate Expansion
Article
AEIdeas

The House Should Act Quickly to Repeal the Illegal, Expensive E-Rate Expansion

Earlier this month, the Senate passed S.J.Res.7. The resolution, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz, would repeal a Biden-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule allowing E-Rate funds to subsidize Wi-Fi hotspot…

The Evidence So Far: What Research Reveals About AI’s Real Impact on Jobs and Society
Article
AEIdeas

The Evidence So Far: What Research Reveals About AI’s Real Impact on Jobs and Society

As organizations race to integrate new AI models into their workflows, everyone is wondering what the effects will be on industries, jobs, and society: Will these new technologies complement human…