Tag Archives: AI and jobs

The Brute Force of Capital: A 2026 Update

Leave a reply

In 1985, IBM was America’s most valuable company, one of its most profitable, and among its largest employers, with a payroll of nearly 400,000. Today, Nvidia is nearly 20 times as valuable and five times as profitable as IBM was back then, adjusted for inflation. Yet it employs roughly a 10th as many people. That simple comparison says something profound about today’s economy: Its rewards are going disproportionately toward capital instead of labor. Profits have soared since the pandemic, and the market value attached to those profits even more. The result: Capital, which includes businesses, shareholders and superstar employees, is triumphant, while the average worker ekes out marginal gains….The brute financial force of all that wealth means market fluctuations… Meanwhile, artificial intelligence could funnel even more of economic output toward capital instead of labor. Amid reports in February 2026 that layoffs are climbing and job openings plunging, especially for professionals exposed to AI, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50 000 for the first time.

Excerpt from Greg Ip, The Big Money in Today’s Economy Is Going to Capital, Not Labor, WSJ, Feb. 9, 2026

McKinsey Loves its Bots and Proud of It

Leave a reply

Companies have paid dearly for McKinsey’s human expertise for nearly a century, relying on the firm’s armies of consultants to synthesize complex information, crunch huge amounts of data and map out solutions to thorny business challenges. But what happens now that AI can do much of that analysis in a matter of minutes—and deliver a slick PowerPoint deck to boot?… McKinsey has reduced its head count…and rolled out roughly 12,000 AI agents. These bots now assist consultants in building PowerPoint decks, taking notes and summing up interviews and research documents for clients.

Traditionally, a strategy project might have required a project leader, four consultants and a partner. Today, it might need a leader and two or three consultants—alongside a few AI agents and access to “deep research” capabilities. Bob Sternfels, head of McKinsey, said he sees a day in the not-too-distant future when McKinsey has one AI agent for every human it employs. “We’re going to continue to hire, but we’re also going to continue to build AI agents,” he said. 

Excerpt from Conor Grant, AI Comes for Consulting, McKinsey Faces an “Existential” Shift, WSJ, Aug. 8, 2025