The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies

The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by MIT economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, holds the thesis that we are now at a pivot point, with changes in our economy and society occuring at a rapid pace, in keeping with the changes that accompanied the first effective steam engines.

They tackle the rise of new technologies both from an historical, economic, and practical standpoint.  At this point, the most interesting part of this work is the income inequality that our new technologies have created.   The cite a graph like the one below, where we see an increasingly large spread between those with a higher education, and those without.  

This is a direct outgrowth of the new information economy (one of the factors that brought Trump to power) and therefore very germane to what is happening now.  Those without an education have been earning less each decade, with a dramatic downturn recently.

Overall, this is an informative, enjoyable read, interesting; both engaging and educational – it covers so  many elements of what a great book should seek to accomplish quite successfully.