. investments like these boost social mobility, and they have the added benefit of improving skills in the workforce, which in turn helps potential output growth. this hits home for me, and i ’ ll bet for many students in the audience. i haven ’ t stopped learning since i left university in the last century. way back then, many things i ’ ve worked on — including blockchain and cryptocurrencies — didn ’ t even exist. i ’ d also like to put strengthened competition and antitrust policy on the table, particularly when it comes to global tech giants. and the reforms to international tax policies led by the organisation for economic co - operation and development and g20 are needed so that globally active digital companies contribute their fair share. 12 statisticians and academics can help inform the debate in this area — with better data on the digital economy and more research into how digitalization affects different groups in society. 13 10 among others, see i. a. ibarra, l. goff, d. j. hernandez, j. lanier and e. g. weyl, “ should we treat data as labor? moving beyond ‘ free, ’ ” american economic association papers and proceedings 108 ( may 2018 ) : 38 – 42 ; m. farboodi, r. mihet, t. philippon and l. veldkamp, “ big data and firm dynamics, ” american economic association papers and proceedings 109 ( may 2019 ) : 38 – 42 ; and c. i. jones and c. tonetti, “ nonrivalry and the economics of data, ” american economic review 110, no. 9 ( september 2020 ) : 2819 – 2858. 11 see c. a. wilkins, “ a look under the hood of canada ’ s job market ” ( speech to the toronto region board of trade, january 31, 2019 ). 12 among others, see organisation for economic co - operation and development, tax challenges arising from digitalisation — interim report 2018 ( march 16, 2018 ). 13 for examples of existing work, see international monetary fund, “ chapter 3 : understanding the downward trend in labor income shares, ” world economic outlook april 2017 ( imf, 2017 ) ; and g. michaels, a. natraj and j. van reenen, “ has ict polarized skill demand? evidence from eleven countries over twenty - five years, ” review of economics and statistics 96, no. 1 ( march 2014

innovations — including the home - grown invention of marquis wheat — allowed a growing population to be fed by fewer workers. today, the share of workers in agriculture is less than 2 percent. all those jobs weren ’ t simply lost. new positions were created in the manufacturing and service sectors as the economy grew, and these now account for the majority of employment in canada. the same dynamic with innovation is true today in that more jobs are created than destroyed. a recent study by statistics canada finds that canadian firms that adopted robots over the past two decades tended to hire more people overall. 8 what conventional wisdom glosses over, however, is the significant transition costs that are borne unevenly across households. even as the economy as a whole benefits from technological advances, sectoral shifts can leave certain groups without jobs and facing obstacles to finding new work. the study i just mentioned links the adoption of robots with higher turnover and net layoffs for some groups of workers. other research finds that the decline in canadian manufacturing since the early 2000s took a disproportionate toll on men in terms of employment and wages. 9 we know that individuals, their families and communities can often struggle for years during transitions triggered by technological change. 8 see j. dixon, “ the effects of robots on firm performance and employment, ” statistics canada economic insights no. 2020024 ( november 2, 2020 ). 9 see statistics canada, “ study : the impact of the manufacturing decline on local labour markets in canada, ” the daily ( january 15, 2020 ). - 7innovations in recent decades in advanced economies have also contributed to the rise of superstar firms with considerable market power. we ’ ve seen this before : think of the railways well over 100 years ago. the modern winner - takesall effect is magnified because user data have become a new source of monopoly power. 10 that ’ s good news for shareholders and workers who have the special skills that superstar firms need. however, it may mean that a handful of firms now account for an outsized share of the jobs in a given industry or town, leaving many other workers with less bargaining power and stagnant wages. this dynamic has likely contributed to weak wage growth in many countries over recent years. 11 i think digitalization should be embraced, but we also need to decide how best to help those individuals who are adversely affected. as i said earlier, investing in education is at the top of the list for many. that includes investing in continuous learning