David Swenson, associate scientist, and Peter Orazem, university professor were interviewed for a Feb. 3, 2019 Sioux City Journal story "Iowa among most at-risk for job automation."
“You have to come up with ways of increasing productivity of the workforce you have, and one of the most common ways it to marry labor with capital,” Orazem said. “That’s human capital in the worker and knowledge of how to use these information technologies effectively.”
David Swenson, an Iowa State University economics scientist, said automation often affects jobs held by lower-educated men or minorities “who might have difficulty tapping into better-educated jobs or moving into education systems or training systems that take them to the next step in life.”
Swenson was also interviewed by:
- Madeline Carlisle, The Atlantic. The interview concerned President Donald Trump’s overall performance in boosting jobs in targeted sectors (manufacturing broadly, the steel industry and coal mining), and whether his policies are boosting or hindering job growth in Iowa.
- Adam Roberts, The Economist, about Iowa economic and demographic changes over the decades and how they influence political choices.
- Ann Mahr, Carroll Daily Times, about the fraction of Iowans who might be living “paycheck to paycheck.”