I read that Anthropic's Dario Amodei has a great metaphor to explain why getting AI legislation/regulation is so hard: it's not that politicians are asleep at the wheel, it's that they are still driving the wrong car. 😟 @erikbryn.bsky.social @mims.bsky.social @emollick.bsky.social

This week's episode of Hard Fork unpacks "the loudest warning yet about AI and jobs" with Lab Director @erikbryn.bsky.social! Listen on Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5IAn...

The warning about AI just got louder: “We must act now.” That's the call by 200+ economists and AI researchers from Stanford & around the world, urging policymakers to act. See their open letter ⤵️co-organized by SIEPR senior fellow @erikbryn.bsky.social, of @stanforddel.bsky.social bit.ly/4vNdrp7

“We Must Act Now”: Sixteen Nobel Laureates Join Leading Economists and AI Researchers in Call to Prepare for AI’s Economic Transformation - Stanford Digital Economy Lab

bit.ly

"...human beings find it easier to worry about what may be lost than to imagine what could be created, he said," writes @annielowrey.bsky.social about her conversation with TPN member @erikbryn.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com .

With comments from @erikamcentarfer.bsky.social @marthagimbel.bsky.social @erikbryn.bsky.social @arakharazian.bsky.social & @innovateeconomy.bsky.social's Nathan Goldschlag (and many others who I wasn't able to quote).

"Beyond the corpus of current human achievement, he said, exists 'this much bigger space, bigger than you know, as big as you can imagine, of things that have never been done before.'” Read @theatlantic.com's new profile on @erikbryn.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The Man Who Saw AI Coming

Erik Brynjolfsson wants to talk with you about the future.

theatlantic.com

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in May and were up 4.2 percent from a year earlier. "Core" prices, excluding food and energy, were up 0.2 percent month-over-month and 2.9 percent year-over-year. Data: www.bls.gov/news.release... Full coverage: www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06... #NumbersDay

Consumer Price Index Summary - 2026 M05 Results

bls.gov

🎙️TPN members @theatlantic.com 's CEO, @nxthompson.bsky.social , and Stanford economist, @erikbryn.bsky.social , sat down to talk about it.

What AI Is Really Doing to Jobs Right Now - Stanford Economist Erik Brynjolfsson

YouTube video by Nicholas Thompson

youtube.com

"A lot of people are under the mistaken idea that the only way that you get productivity from A.I. is by removing labor costs." — @erikbryn.bsky.social @nytimes.com looks at a case where AI makes workers more productive, rather than replacing them: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/b...

A.I. Doesn’t Have to Mean Layoffs

nytimes.com

Erik makes an interesting point here about why salaries for high-end coders could go up with AI. It is an incredible tool for inventing goods and services, and if you’re skilled enough to leverage it, you can create products no one ever has before. 3/

I really enjoyed this conversation iwth @nxthompson.bsky.social. He does his homework and asks sharp questions.

Nicholas Thompson@nxthompson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

@erikbryn.bsky.social is one of the smartest minds on economics and AI. There are so many open questions about how this technology is going to change the workforce, and it was a pleasure discussing them with him on the recent episode of my podcast. Here are a few takeaways. 1/ youtu.be/HpgjB4ZA7E0

He says we’re making a mistake by building AI that mimics human intelligence. We’ll reap more value designing it in ways that complement rather than replace us—and it might make people more enthusiastic about it, too. 2/

I really enjoyed this conversation iwth @nxthompson.bsky.social. He does his homework and asks sharp questions.

Nicholas Thompson@nxthompson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

@erikbryn.bsky.social is one of the smartest minds on economics and AI. There are so many open questions about how this technology is going to change the workforce, and it was a pleasure discussing them with him on the recent episode of my podcast. Here are a few takeaways. 1/ youtu.be/HpgjB4ZA7E0

Stanford's Erik Brynjolfsson bets Northwestern's Robert Gordon $400 that AI drives US labor productivity above 1.8% annually from 2020 to 2030.

A $400 AI Bet That’s Actually a High-Stakes Wager on the Future of Work

Two prominent economists differ on how quickly artificial intelligence will reshape the US job market.

bloomberg.com

AI is making the economy more productive. But who actually benefits? Two economists made a $400 bet in 2020. Erik Brynjolfsson of Stanford wagered that AI would push US productivity growth above 1.8% per year through 2030.

The discussion about college tuition costs is disconnected from the reality.

Matt Barnum@mattbarnum.bsky.social · 3mo ago

7) Real college tuition costs have been flat or declining for nearly two decades. There's an increasing disconnect between sticker prices and what people actually pay, which causes confusion on this point.

How do AI agents influence knowledge work? @suproteem.cc's talk at the DEL Seminar Series is now available on YouTube! Moderated by @erikbryn.bsky.social, Sarkar discusses three projects on the Economics of Applied AI. Watch here: youtu.be/4_T4aTLWtwY

Suproteem Sarkar: Economics of Applied AI

YouTube video by Stanford Digital Economy Lab

youtu.be

For those who missed Zoë Hitzig's visit to our Seminar Series, it's now available on YouTube! Watch "How People Use ChatGPT," moderated by Director @erikbryn.bsky.social, here: youtu.be/czrKIiuHZ-U

Zoë Hitzig: How People Use ChatGPT

YouTube video by Stanford Digital Economy Lab

youtu.be

Interesting article by @kevinfoxecon.bsky.social on GDP-B: a framework to measure what free services are worth: tinyurl.com/4vs6y2nm Hear more about this ESCoE work in the keynote interview with @erikbryn.bsky.social at our 2025 conference: youtu.be/SstOWPTg7hk

Excited to be in Philly for the #ASSA2026 meetings! Presenting tomorrow on AI adoption and the Productivity J-Curve. Cool session on whether “This time is different” when it comes to AI and productivity. Plus ca change… #Econsky

Actual footage of an AI researcher encountering emergent behavior for the first time..:

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D.@sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 11mo ago

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

Here's a very thoughtful thread between where one of world's top energy and climate experts, @jgkoomey.bsky.social responds to one of the other top energy and climate experts @ramez.bsky.social . Both the content and the tone are illuminating.

Jonathan Koomey@jgkoomey.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I like Ramez a lot but I disagree with him here. First, let's agree that oil and gas production are a complex case to model, because oil at least is subject to the behavior of a cartel (OPEC) and gas is increasingly international, with a few big buyers and sellers

Newsweek just published a wonderful discussion of my research on the economic implications of AI. I'm grateful to Marcus Weldon for being to thoughtful and thorough. www.newsweek.com/nw-ai/centau...

Centaurs, Canaries and J-Curves: Pitfalls and Productivity Potential of AI

The lack of gains in productivity from AI could stall adoption and burst the economic bubble. Is there a rational explanation?

newsweek.com

📢 This just in: Round 2 of "The Digitalist Papers," a deep dive into the economics of #AI from @erikbryn.bsky.social's @stanforddel.bsky.social. Essays from SIEPR's Susan Athey and Ramin Toloui, among others. Link below.

@erikbryn.bsky.social warns of a dangerous asymmetry: We pour billions into capabilities, but pennies into understanding their economic, social, and geopolitical effects. Goal of the Digitalist Papers + @stanforddel.bsky.social is to close this gap.

With the cost of LiDAR plummeting, Waymo's bet to use it in their autonomous cars is looking smarter and smarter.

Dustin Moskovitz@moskov.goodventures.org · 8mo ago

They *said* that and they kept saying it for years after it stopped being true.

They *said* that and they kept saying it for years after it stopped being true.

Community college enrollment has been declining since 2009/10. The optimal policy response to this depends on the root of this decline. I'm thrilled @nber.org today released my working paper with Harvard PhD Joe Winkelmann titled: "Labor Market Strength and Declining Community College Enrollment"

I enjoyed my conversation with @tejparikh.ft.com about how AI can amplify and extend human capabilities, rather than merely imitate and replace them. See www.ft.com/content/1e5e...