Editing Information Age (section)

==Economics==
Eventually, [[Information and communications technology|Information and communication technology]] (ICT)—i.e. computers, [[Automation#Space/computer age|computerized machinery]], [[Fiber-optic communication|fiber optics]], [[Communications satellite|communication satellites]], the Internet, and other ICT tools—became a significant part of the [[world economy]], as the development of [[optical networking]] and [[microcomputer]]s greatly changed many businesses and industries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i-a-e.org/newsletters/IAE-Newsletter-2008-01.html|title=Information Age Education Newsletter|date=August 2008|website=Information Age Education|access-date=4 December 2019|archive-date=14 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914220859/http://i-a-e.org/newsletters/IAE-Newsletter-2008-01.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://iae-pedia.org/Information_Age|title=Information Age|last=Moursund|first=David|website=IAE-Pedia|access-date=4 December 2019|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801202546/http://iae-pedia.org/Information_Age|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Nicholas Negroponte]] captured the essence of these changes in his 1995 book, ''[[Being Digital]],'' in which he discusses the similarities and differences between products made of [[atom]]s and products made of [[bit]]s.<ref>{{cite web|date=1996-12-30|title=Negroponte's articles|url=http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm|access-date=2012-06-11|publisher=Archives.obs-us.com|archive-date=2011-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904004845/http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Jobs and income distribution===
The Information Age has affected the [[workforce]] in several ways, such as compelling workers to compete in a global [[job market]]. One of the most evident concerns is the replacement of human labor by computers that can do their jobs faster and more effectively, thus creating a situation in which individuals who perform tasks that can easily be [[Automation|automated]] are forced to find employment where their labor is not as disposable.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Porter|first1=Michael|title=How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage|url=https://hbr.org/1985/07/how-information-gives-you-competitive-advantage|magazine=Harvard Business Review|access-date=9 September 2015|archive-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623142530/https://hbr.org/1985/07/how-information-gives-you-competitive-advantage|url-status=live}}</ref> This especially creates issue for those in [[Industrial city|industrial cities]], where solutions typically involve lowering [[working time]], which is often highly resisted. Thus, individuals who lose their jobs may be pressed to move up into more indispensable professions (e.g. engineers, [[Doctor of Medicine|doctors]], lawyers, [[Education|teachers]], [[Professorship|professors]], scientists, [[Business executive|executives]], journalists, consultants), who are able to compete successfully in the [[world economy|world market]] and receive (relatively) high wages.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Along with automation, jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (e.g. [[assembly line]], [[data processing]], management, and [[supervision]]) have also begun to disappear as result of outsourcing.<ref name=":2">McGowan, Robert. 1991. "The Work of Nations by Robert Reich" (book review). ''[[Human Resource Management Research|Human Resource Management]]'' 30(4):535–38. {{doi|10.1002/hrm.3930300407}}. {{ISSN|1099-050X}}.</ref> Unable to compete with those in [[Developing country|developing countries]], [[Production line|production]] and service workers in [[Post-industrial society|post-industrial (i.e. developed) societies]] either lose their jobs through outsourcing, accept wage cuts, or settle for [[Entry-level job|low-skill]], [[Low-wage job|low-wage]] service jobs.<ref name=":2" /> In the past, the economic fate of individuals would be tied to that of their nation's. For example, workers in the United States were once well paid in comparison to those in other countries. With the advent of the Information Age and improvements in communication, this is no longer the case, as workers must now compete in a global [[job market]], whereby wages are less dependent on the success or failure of individual economies.<ref name=":2" />

In effectuating a [[Economic globalization|globalized workforce]], the internet has just as well allowed for increased opportunity in [[Developing country|developing countries]], making it possible for workers in such places to provide in-person services, therefore competing directly with their counterparts in other nations. This [[competitive advantage]] translates into increased opportunities and higher wages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=In defense of Globalization|last=Bhagwati|first=Jagdish N.|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2005|location=New York}}</ref>

===Automation, productivity, and job gain===
The Information Age has affected the workforce in that [[automation]] and computerization have resulted in higher [[productivity]] coupled with net [[Unemployment|job loss]] in manufacturing. In the United States, for example, from January 1972 to August 2010, the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs fell from 17,500,000 to 11,500,000 while manufacturing value rose 270%.<ref>{{cite web |last = Smith|first = Fran|date = 5 October 2010|work =[[Competitive Enterprise Institute]]|url =http://www.openmarket.org/2010/10/05/job-losses-and-productivity-gains/ |title= Job Losses and Productivity Gains|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013114215/http://www.openmarket.org/2010/10/05/job-losses-and-productivity-gains/ |archive-date=2010-10-13 }}</ref> Although it initially appeared that [[Unemployment|job loss]] in the [[industrial sector]] might be partially offset by the rapid growth of jobs in information technology, the [[Recession of 2001|recession of March 2001]] foreshadowed a sharp drop in the number of jobs in the sector. This pattern of decrease in jobs would continue until 2003,<ref>Cooke, Sandra D. 2003. "[http://www.esa.doc.gov/reports/DE-Chap2.pdf Information Technology Workers in the Digital Economy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621073347/http://www.esa.doc.gov/reports/DE-Chap2.pdf |date=2017-06-21 }}." In ''Digital Economy''. [[Economics and Statistics Administration]], [[United States Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce]].</ref> and data has shown that, overall, technology creates more jobs than it destroys even in the short run.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Yongsung |last1=Chang |first2=Jay H.|last2=Hong|date=2013|title=Does Technology Create Jobs?|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/89556690/does-technology-create-jobs |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429045823/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/89556690/does-technology-create-jobs |archive-date=2014-04-29|journal=SERI Quarterly|volume=6|issue=3|pages=44–53|access-date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

===Information-intensive industry===
{{Main|Information industry}}
Industry has become more information-intensive while less [[Labor intensity|labor]]- and [[Capital intensity|capital-intensive]]. This has left important implications for the [[workforce]], as workers have become increasingly [[Productivity|productive]] as the value of their labor decreases. For the system of [[capitalism]] itself, the value of labor decreases, the value of [[Capital (economics)|capital]] increases.

In the [[Classical economics|classical model]], investments in [[human capital|human]] and [[financial capital]] are important predictors of the performance of a new [[Venture capital|venture]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cooper|first1=Arnold C.|last2=Gimeno-Gascon|first2=F. Javier|last3=Woo|first3=Carolyn Y.|year=1994|title=Initial human and financial capital as predictors of new venture performance|journal=Journal of Business Venturing|volume=9|issue=5|pages=371–395|doi=10.1016/0883-9026(94)90013-2}}</ref> However, as demonstrated by [[Mark Zuckerberg]] and Facebook, it now seems possible for a group of relatively inexperienced people with limited capital to succeed on a large scale.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/business/media/04carr.html|title=Film Version of Zuckerberg Divides the Generations|last=Carr|first=David|date=2010-10-03|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-12-20|archive-date=2020-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114003613/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/business/media/04carr.html|url-status=live}}</ref>