Mark Muro

This report is part of "A Blueprint for the Future of AI," a series from the Brookings Institution that analyzes the new challenges and potential policy solutions introduced by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

As a new Congress and the 2020 presidential election cycle gear up, much of Washington is likely to focus on topics where political polarization is high. Yet there may be surprises.

Take climate change, a top priority for many Democrats.

The standard story is that the high-tech “blue” states are pushing a green wave of massive investment to cut emissions of gases that cause climate change. Meanwhile, the GOP-leaning “red” states are assumed to be part of what Ron Brownstein calls… Show more

As a new Congress and the 2020 presidential election cycle gear up, much of Washington is likely to focus on topics where political polarization is high. Yet there may be surprises.

Take climate change, a top priority for many Democrats.

The standard story is that the high-tech “blue” states are pushing a green wave of massive investment to cut emissions of gases that cause climate change. Meanwhile, the GOP-leaning “red” states are assumed to be part of what Ron Brownstein calls a “brown blockade” of fossil-fuel producers that are drilling and burning and don’t want to stop. The upshot: Emissions divides appear to guarantee a future of climate policy gridlock, even as scientific consensus signals an emergency and new data shows the rate of planetary warming is accelerating.

And yet, what if we look at the geography of climate change from a different angle? Specifically, what if we flip the frame from emissions to impacts? From that perspective, the current gridlock might not be as permanent as it now seems, as many of the jurisdictions that have selected political leaders opposed to climate policy are the most exposed to the harms of climate change. Show less

Hence the analysis presented here. Intended to bring often-inscrutable trends down to earth, the following report develops both backward and forward-looking analyses of the impacts of automation over the years 1980 to 2016 and 2016 to 2030 to assess past and upcoming trends as they affect both people and communities in the United States.

The report focuses on areas of potential occupational change rather than net employment losses or gains. Special attention is applied to digging beneath… Show more

Hence the analysis presented here. Intended to bring often-inscrutable trends down to earth, the following report develops both backward and forward-looking analyses of the impacts of automation over the years 1980 to 2016 and 2016 to 2030 to assess past and upcoming trends as they affect both people and communities in the United States.

The report focuses on areas of potential occupational change rather than net employment losses or gains. Special attention is applied to digging beneath national top-line statistics to explore industry, geographical, and demographic variations. Finally, the report concludes by suggesting a comprehensive response framework for national and state-local policymakers. Show less

This report considers ways in which Central Indiana can advance economic opportunity by focusing regional economic growth and inclusion strategies on “Opportunity Industries”—the industries that concentrate the region’s good jobs and promising jobs. Good jobs provide middle-class wages and benefits. Promising jobs are entry-level jobs that, while they do not provide the pay or benefits of a good job, enable the workers who hold them to reach a good job within 10 years.

The 2016 election revealed a dramatic gap between two Americas—one based in large, diverse, thriving metropolitan regions; the other found in more homogeneous small towns and rural areas struggling under the weight of economic stagnation and social decline.

This gap between two American geographies came as a shock to many observers.

While it is true that many American leaders had grown disconnected from a significant portion of the country, something else had happened, too: the… Show more

The 2016 election revealed a dramatic gap between two Americas—one based in large, diverse, thriving metropolitan regions; the other found in more homogeneous small towns and rural areas struggling under the weight of economic stagnation and social decline.

This gap between two American geographies came as a shock to many observers.

While it is true that many American leaders had grown disconnected from a significant portion of the country, something else had happened, too: the nation’s economic trends had changed. Show less

The State of the Heartland: Factbook 2018 benchmarks the performance of the 19-state American “Heartland” on 26 socioeconomic measures and is intended to help Heartland leaders and citizens better comprehend the region’s current trajectory at a time of rapid economic and social change.

Focused on how the defined region’s economy has been performing since the recent financial crisis, the factbook provides both encouraging and trying news for the region.The good news is that the region is… Show more

The State of the Heartland: Factbook 2018 benchmarks the performance of the 19-state American “Heartland” on 26 socioeconomic measures and is intended to help Heartland leaders and citizens better comprehend the region’s current trajectory at a time of rapid economic and social change.

Focused on how the defined region’s economy has been performing since the recent financial crisis, the factbook provides both encouraging and trying news for the region.The good news is that the region is doing better than is sometimes portrayed, particularly on measures of tradable industry presence. With that said, the Heartland is variable in its prosperity and serious deficits in human capital and innovation capacity pose challenges to future prosperity in many areas.

The factbook was developed through a partnership of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution and the Walton Family Foundation and was prepared to support the Walton Family Foundation’s inaugural “Heartland Summit.” Show less

In recent decades, the diffusion of digital technology into nearly every business and workplace, also known as “digitalization,” has been remaking the U.S. economy and the world of work. The “digitalization of everything” has at once increased the potential of individuals, firms, and society while also contributing to a series of troublesome impacts and inequalities, such as worker pay disparities across many demographics, and the divergence of metropolitan economic outcomes.

In light of… Show more

In recent decades, the diffusion of digital technology into nearly every business and workplace, also known as “digitalization,” has been remaking the U.S. economy and the world of work. The “digitalization of everything” has at once increased the potential of individuals, firms, and society while also contributing to a series of troublesome impacts and inequalities, such as worker pay disparities across many demographics, and the divergence of metropolitan economic outcomes.

In light of that, this report presents a detailed analysis of changes in the digital content of 545 occupations covering 90 percent of the U.S. workforce in all industries since 2001. The analysis categorizes U.S. occupations into jobs that require high, medium or low digital skills and tracks the impacts of rapid change.

The full report concludes with implications of the key findings and suggests ways communities can work with firms and workers to spread the benefits of digitalization while mitigating its potentially harmful effects. Show less

This analysis looks at VC investment data across 15 cleantech categories during the 2000s, with a particular focus on years since 2011, and on the nation’s diverse metropolitan areas. What do we find? The analysis provides new evidence that cleantech VC activity is changing in ways that are requiring new commercialization strategies. Along with a significant drop in VC investment in cleantech, investments have concentrated in a few technology areas, in more mature firms, and in just a few… Show more

This analysis looks at VC investment data across 15 cleantech categories during the 2000s, with a particular focus on years since 2011, and on the nation’s diverse metropolitan areas. What do we find? The analysis provides new evidence that cleantech VC activity is changing in ways that are requiring new commercialization strategies. Along with a significant drop in VC investment in cleantech, investments have concentrated in a few technology areas, in more mature firms, and in just a few metropolitan areas, raising concerns about the narrow and spotty focus of cleantech VC. The upshot: New and more diverse approaches to finding and funding America’s new great cleantech companies are sorely needed. Show less

To that end, this first brief of two on cleantech innovation—a forthcoming analysis will examine venture capital (VC) dynamics—looks at technology patenting activity as a key indicator for monitoring the development of new technologies, as represented by the volume and topics of new patents resulting from public and private funded research.

What do these data show? Overall, the data show that even as cleantech patenting has grown over the years, serious concerns remain about the… Show more

To that end, this first brief of two on cleantech innovation—a forthcoming analysis will examine venture capital (VC) dynamics—looks at technology patenting activity as a key indicator for monitoring the development of new technologies, as represented by the volume and topics of new patents resulting from public and private funded research.

What do these data show? Overall, the data show that even as cleantech patenting has grown over the years, serious concerns remain about the competitiveness of the U.S. cleantech innovation scene. At the same time, while much of America’s patenting takes place in relatively few large metropolitan areas, significant cleantech innovation activity extends into all regions of the country. That breadth underscores both the relevance and potential of low carbon innovation. Show less