not that important. the situation will be different in china. actual robots and manufacturers have a more dramatic impact in china than they do here. i think it may ultimately make it difficult for china to do the one thing they need to do which is balance the economy toward domestic consumption. the economy relies on exports and especially investments. roads and bridges and buildings what is powering the chinese economy. eventually have to have a self sustaining consumer economy and in order to do that raise incomes for people in the economy and need jobs for that. if robots have a destructive impact on chinese factories and there is evidence that is happening it is harder for them to get more income into the hands of the consumers so they can do that rebalancing affect.

the other thing i would focus on is it is also a problem for countries that are not as far along as china. historically the way impoverished countries have become wealthy is for manufacturing, through low-wage manufacturing jobs they have been able to employ people and that is the path they have taken toward prosperity. countries like south korea for example did that very successfully. china is doing it now. in a future where we are not going to need millions of low-wage factory workers it is hard to see how poor countries in places like africa and some parts of asia are really going to find a way to get on the path to prosperity. that has new application. >> i am a techie, not really a moderate. you said earlier over the past hundred years, technologists

have been improving our lives. you think is going to go on but at some point don't you think there's going to be a point of diminishing returns where it doesn't help any more? it will just stop? or start becoming so slow and slow down the essentially? we won't be doubling in things as quickly any more? to you think this can go on forever? >> i don't know about forever but i expect it to continue for some time. there's already talk of more's law, running out of steam sometimes soon. there are issues there. i think there's a lot of talk that some of the technologies we have developed in recent years aren't really contributing the way older technologies, things like facebook and twitter and so forth, are they helping credit to the you're detracting from it? those are valid concerns.

i think as technology robotics and artificial intelligence, to start bringing benefits, following the problems i am talking about, having robots that can take over the work in warehouses and work on the loading docks is potentially a much bigger thing than having people wasting time on social media. we could be moving into an era where the innovations are more meaningful assuming we can solve this problem. in the longer term i don't know the answer to that. that is a spate village of question. >> okay, thank you very much. [applause]

>> every weekend booktv offers programming focused on nonfiction authors and books. keep watching for more on c-span2 and watch any of our past programs online at booktv.org. here is a look at the current best-selling nonfiction books according to the new york times. topping the list, david mccullough, two time winner of the pulitzer prize recounts the birth of flight in the right brothers.

that is this week's top ten nonfiction bestsellers according to the new york times. this is booktv on c-span2 and we wa