Recently, our flight center experienced what, in aviation lingo, is called an “incident.” A student and a flight instructor took off for an instrument training session. As they climbed into the ceiling at about 800 feet, they were handed over from the airport control tower to air traffic control. Air... Continue reading

While it is clear from my last several blogs that I believe that automation will drive a major restructuring of the world economy, I do not think that we are facing an end to work as we know it. As I argued in my last blog, driverless trucks will create... Continue reading

In a recent blog, I talked about the impact of increased automation and robotics on jobs in the logistics industry. While jobs numbers attract the most attention both within the industry and in the popular press, the more significant and complicated issue relates to the impact on the structure of... Continue reading

There’s much talk these days about productivity and production. I’ve blogged previously on this topic. US productivity peaked with the "Dot.Com Bubble" and has been very weak since 2010.[i] A possible resurgence, according to many, lies in artificial intelligence and robotics. On the other hand, these very innovations that could... Continue reading

During the 1980’s, I worked as a consultant for FedEx helping to develop the company’s first quality management system. Two tangential elements from my experience stand out to me today. First, I remember a conversation between Fred Smith and Jim Barksdale where they wondered if it were possible that there... Continue reading

I just returned from a week-long trip to Germany, where I was working with a German university on a partnership in global logistics—one that would link Bridgewater State University with universities in Germany, England, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Seeing the culmination of the U.S. presidential election from Europe was amazing. But... Continue reading

Interestingly, the NAFTA debate of the current election cycle has focused primarily on US–Mexico trade generally ignoring the US–Canadian relationship. Sometimes we forget how significant this latter relationship is[i]: The largest bilateral trading relationship in the world—approaching three-quarters of a trillion dollars and supporting almost 2 million jobs; The longest... Continue reading

If you followed my recommendation to check out Parag Khanna's new book Connetography, and were frustrated to find it to be a dense, academic read, you will be pleased with my latest recommendation, Door to Door. The author, Edward Humes, is definitely more geared to popular writing having written 14... Continue reading

Any visit to China is striking. The size of everything is overwhelming. The contrast of old and new is striking. If you’re revisiting, the obvious growth is a shock. If, as was the case for me, the time span between visits is over 10 years, the change can be almost... Continue reading

In a recent blog (“Chinese Manufacturing Productivity”), I wrote about the problems of Chinese productivity, noting that, while growth rates were high, the absolute level of productivity was between 15-30% of OECD averages. This week, we were disappointed, but not surprised, to learn that US output per hour worked fell... Continue reading

I recently made a two-week trip to China visiting a variety of businesses and universities. This was my fourth trip to China but my first to the mainland in about 15 years. To say the least, the contrast was dramatic. Even in Shanghai, which appeared to be on steroids when... Continue reading

The conflict between global business and the general public is raging. The establishment political parties in the United States have been challenged on the Left by a presidential candidate who says that there has never been a single trade agreement that he’s been comfortable with and on the Right by... Continue reading