Eric Brynjolfsson

I remember it was COVID. We had this garden party and I sort of half-jokingly nervously said, hey, are you guys all going to be moving to like Austin or Miami or something? Did I kind of miss the party? And they laughed and said, oh, don't worry. It kind of seems like, you know, San Francisco and the Bay Area is going downhill. They said, don't worry, there'll be something.

I remember it was COVID. We had this garden party and I sort of half-jokingly nervously said, hey, are you guys all going to be moving to like Austin or Miami or something? Did I kind of miss the party? And they laughed and said, oh, don't worry. It kind of seems like, you know, San Francisco and the Bay Area is going downhill. They said, don't worry, there'll be something.

And we didn't know about ChatGPT at that point. Maybe a few of the people in the room might have been working on it for all I know. But then, of course, there's this explosion. And if anything, I think the tech innovation scene is even more concentrated in the Bay Area now than it was when I came in 2020. And there's just a whole wave of innovations. People talk about it, but I'm an economist.

And we didn't know about ChatGPT at that point. Maybe a few of the people in the room might have been working on it for all I know. But then, of course, there's this explosion. And if anything, I think the tech innovation scene is even more concentrated in the Bay Area now than it was when I came in 2020. And there's just a whole wave of innovations. People talk about it, but I'm an economist.

And we didn't know about ChatGPT at that point. Maybe a few of the people in the room might have been working on it for all I know. But then, of course, there's this explosion. And if anything, I think the tech innovation scene is even more concentrated in the Bay Area now than it was when I came in 2020. And there's just a whole wave of innovations. People talk about it, but I'm an economist.

I don't really fully appreciate it until I'm here. There's a cultural element to it, an attitude. It partly attracts people from around the world who have this mindset of wanting to change the world. People help each other to do it. And like you said, it's been a tremendous engine of creativity and wealth creation.

I don't really fully appreciate it until I'm here. There's a cultural element to it, an attitude. It partly attracts people from around the world who have this mindset of wanting to change the world. People help each other to do it. And like you said, it's been a tremendous engine of creativity and wealth creation.

I don't really fully appreciate it until I'm here. There's a cultural element to it, an attitude. It partly attracts people from around the world who have this mindset of wanting to change the world. People help each other to do it. And like you said, it's been a tremendous engine of creativity and wealth creation.

Yeah, it's a tragedy. Part of it, to be fair, I think it's overrated. Like London Reed was saying, I heard, you know, apparently it has the lowest murder rate in 60 years. And, you know, I come up to San Francisco a fair number of times. I don't think it's like what is described by Elon Musk or others on Twitter. Well, there's a... Good timing. But part of it is real.

Yeah, it's a tragedy. Part of it, to be fair, I think it's overrated. Like London Reed was saying, I heard, you know, apparently it has the lowest murder rate in 60 years. And, you know, I come up to San Francisco a fair number of times. I don't think it's like what is described by Elon Musk or others on Twitter. Well, there's a... Good timing. But part of it is real.

Yeah, it's a tragedy. Part of it, to be fair, I think it's overrated. Like London Reed was saying, I heard, you know, apparently it has the lowest murder rate in 60 years. And, you know, I come up to San Francisco a fair number of times. I don't think it's like what is described by Elon Musk or others on Twitter. Well, there's a... Good timing. But part of it is real.

I just walked over from Union Square and there were definitely some homeless people on the street. In the green room, I gave London Breed a little bit of a hard time, you know, about why do we allow this? I think in some ways, I'm not a sociologist, but maybe all the wealth and success allows a lot of sort of slack and allows them to get away with a lot of mismanagement.

I just walked over from Union Square and there were definitely some homeless people on the street. In the green room, I gave London Breed a little bit of a hard time, you know, about why do we allow this? I think in some ways, I'm not a sociologist, but maybe all the wealth and success allows a lot of sort of slack and allows them to get away with a lot of mismanagement.

I just walked over from Union Square and there were definitely some homeless people on the street. In the green room, I gave London Breed a little bit of a hard time, you know, about why do we allow this? I think in some ways, I'm not a sociologist, but maybe all the wealth and success allows a lot of sort of slack and allows them to get away with a lot of mismanagement.

I'm not singling out her or anybody in particular, but... I do think a lot of that government is not managed as well as it could be. They can get away with it because there's just so much innovation and wealth being created that you can have a lot of slack. I'm hoping that will get tightened up a bit because it doesn't reflect well on California or on San Francisco.

I'm not singling out her or anybody in particular, but... I do think a lot of that government is not managed as well as it could be. They can get away with it because there's just so much innovation and wealth being created that you can have a lot of slack. I'm hoping that will get tightened up a bit because it doesn't reflect well on California or on San Francisco.

I'm not singling out her or anybody in particular, but... I do think a lot of that government is not managed as well as it could be. They can get away with it because there's just so much innovation and wealth being created that you can have a lot of slack. I'm hoping that will get tightened up a bit because it doesn't reflect well on California or on San Francisco.

And with all the money being poured in to try to support San Francisco and the Bay Area, we should have the cleanest streets, the best police force, the safest neighborhoods, and we don't.

And with all the money being poured in to try to support San Francisco and the Bay Area, we should have the cleanest streets, the best police force, the safest neighborhoods, and we don't.

And with all the money being poured in to try to support San Francisco and the Bay Area, we should have the cleanest streets, the best police force, the safest neighborhoods, and we don't.