“Today’s Times has an interesting and, if you think about it, fairly scary report about how software is replacing the teams of lawyers who used to do document research,” says Paul Krugman. “And then there’s Watson, of course, who — which? — can beat almost everyone except my Congressman at Jeopardy. Also the college wage premium, after rising sharply in the 80s and 90s, has stagnated lately.

“In my mind this raises several questions. One is whether emphasizing education — even aside from the fact that the big rise in inequality has taken place among the highly educated — is, in effect, fighting the last war. Another is how we have a decent society if and when even highly educated workers can’t command a middle-class income.

“I know, it’s rushing ahead a bit; but remember, the Luddites weren’t the poorest of the poor, they were skilled artisans whose skills had suddenly been devalued by new technology.”