The video of Erik Brynjolfsson is an excellent one which demonstrates the economic growth in US and some problems behind the increasing productivity. In a long run, the economic growth and productivity increase exponentially not only in US but also in the entire world. Technology plays an important role in this growth; however, as Eric mentioned in the video, when the electric motors were created and used during the production process, productivity did not increase as people expected. This is because people did replace the steam engine with electronic motors, but they didn’t fully innovate their production factories to adopt the new advantage.

In the modern world, as more and more innovative technology has been created, we are facing exactly the same problem. Though it increases productivity and reduces the costs, people are losing their jobs, and their average income has fallen. For example, a tax preparation software can calculate tax fast, accurate and cheaper, but 17% of tax preparers lose their jobs. Then, does it mean that we should stop using new technology? No, in Erik’s words, “Racing with the machine beats racing against the machines, productivity is not our destiny, we shape our destiny” My understanding of this is that human and machines must work together to maximize the efficiency. Machines can do some jobs better than human, but human may be able to do some jobs that machines are not good at. Therefore, race with the machines is the key of growth in the modern society.