The Cost of Prejudice in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Paul Donovan’s Profit and Prejudice: The Luddites of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Routledge, 2020) is a great example of what Robert Shiller has championed as narrative economics: pointing out the power and real-world economic import of stories. In this case, Donovan highlights the cost of prejudice and how it will become even more expensive as we enter the fourth industrial revolution, a period in which human capital will be critically important to the success of any endeavor. Prejudice is bad for business and the economy, he concludes. Donovan argues for “Fighting Back”—the title of a chapter—to confront the economic cost of prejudice, but it will be an uphill battle.

________________________

Paul Donovan is a managing director and Chief Economist for UBS Global Wealth Management. Paul is responsible for formulating and presenting views on economics and policy.

Daniel Peris is Senior Vice President at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh. Trained as a historian of modern Russia, he is the author most recently of Getting Back to Business: Why Modern Portfolio Theory Fails Investors.