Michael Spence "Information technology and the integration of the global economy"

       This week's reading "Information technology and the integration of the global economy" is a chapter from the book The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World by Michael Spence, published in 2011. In this chapter, Spence focuses on the effect digital communication has on the economy and society as a whole. Initially he focuses on cell phones and how widespread their use has become--even in the most remote areas. The dependency people now have on their cellular devices is greater than ever before. Another main point of Spence's is how the internet helped to shape our economy. He mentions how the Internet, or networked computers, has dramatically reduced the costs of previously tedious everyday activities and how automation allowed for the reduction in labor time, costs, and errors. However, Spence also notes that there is a downside to all of this development. People are now being threatened in terms of their privacy, in addition to the ease that computer networking has provided for terrorism, identity theft, and many other ill-intended actions. Finally, Spence touches on the distribution of benefits and how they have unequally created countries that are more advanced than others. A quote that I believe sums up Michael Spence's thoughts well is that "knowledge and access to information are the underpinnings of much of the value creation in the modern world" (Spence, 2011, p. 243). This shows that nowadays not only is knowledge of high importance, but access to information that allows you to further educate and inform yourself.

       Michael Spence's real name is actually Andrew Michael Spence. He was born on November 7, 1943 in Montclair, New Jersey but he grew up in Canada for the majority of his life. Michael is an American Economist and is currently a professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in philosophy and then continued his studies at Oxford University focusing on mathematics and finally received his Ph.D at Harvard University. In 2001, Spence was the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in economic sciences for his work on the dynamics of information flows and market development. What he is frequently most known for is his development of the job-market Signaling Model which essentially deals with employees capability to signal to their employers the skills and ability they possess because employers will pay more for people with higher abilities. His book The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World, from which this week's reading was extracted, has been highly reviewed according to Amazon. His readers have made note about how this particular book on economics is highly interesting and thought provoking and not extremely difficult to grasp conceptually. There were also a handful of reviews that noted how Spence even contradicts typical economist ways of thinking to provide seemingly more down-to-earth ideas. After doing some research, I came across another book co-authored by Spence called In the Wake of the Crisis which takes somewhat of a different viewpoint. This book discusses the many policies that should be enacted as a result of the transformation of our economy and society, in turn further regulating and restricting our economy. 

 

Sources:

NYU Stern School of Business

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/a-michael-spence

Nobelprize.org

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2001/spence-bio.html

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Convergence-Future-Economic-Multispeed-ebook/dp/B004EPYWCO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415292800&sr=8-1&keywords=the+next+convergence

Google Books
http://books.google.com/books?id=tN5SUr5o4pUC&dq=the%20next%20convergence&source=gbs_similarbooks

Spence, Michael. "Information Technology and the Global Economy." The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Print.