David Autor

“Our machines increasingly do our work for us. Why doesn't this make our labor redundant and our skills obsolete? Why are there still so many jobs?”

“People tend to think about trade as if it's competition between companies - if Apple wins, Google loses. But that's false. Trade makes nations better off in general. Now, I want to be clear. I'm not saying that everything about trade is good and beneficial. Trade also has costs.”

“There's a reason I write articles and go out for good dinners: because I'm better at research than cooking. And there are people who are much better at cooking than research, so it's mutually beneficial for us to specialize.”

“There is no question we are in an era of people asking, 'Is the Robocalypse upon us?”

“Markets are, in many settings, self-organizing and 'efficient' in terms of maximizing the welfare of both buyers and sellers.”

“I had never taken any economics. I literally didn't know what it was. I thought it was just about the study of money.”

“I think we labor economists like to think of ourselves as being closer to the people.”

“The fact that a task cannot be computerized does not imply that computerization has no effect on that task. On the contrary, tasks that cannot be substituted by computerization are generally complemented by it. This point is as fundamental as it is overlooked.”

“Work is really wrapped up with identity. Work is not just money for most people.”

“Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”

“I did software development for a while, and I also spent several years directing a nonprofit in San Francisco that did computer education for the poor. I also did a lot of work in fast food.”

“Work is what structures adults' lives: it gives us purpose, focus, a set of responsibilities, and an identity. So when people are not participating in the labour market, all sorts of other things often start to go wrong.”

“Manufacturing value chains are global. Many U.S.-made goods have foreign components. Slapping on tariffs will raise prices and slow imports, but it will make us poorer and impede growth.”

“Here's a startling fact: in the 45 years since the introduction of the automated teller machine, those vending machines that dispense cash, the number of human bank tellers employed in the United States has roughly doubled, from about a quarter of a million to a half a million.”

“In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded and crashed down to Earth less than two minutes after takeoff. The cause of that crash, it turned out, was an inexpensive rubber O-ring in the booster rocket that had frozen on the launchpad the night before and failed catastrophically moments after takeoff.”

“We have too few college graduates. We also have too few people who are prepared for college.”

“There's never been a better time to be a worker with special skills or the right education, because these people can use technology to create and capture value.”

“I did a lot of blue collar work. I also worked as a temp. I did, you know, light construction and cleaning. I did clerical temping. I also fix cars and motorcycles and electronics.”

“Tax reform done right will improve incentives to invest in U.S. production and to repatriate profits.”

“The long-term policies that will be most effective all have to do with investment: investing in ourselves, investing in opportunities, creating good schools, and creating situations where people can acquire skills that enable them to be successful.”