Andrew Yang: Yes, Robots Are Stealing Your Job [View all]

[redqueen]

Self-driving trucks will be great for the G.D.P. They’ll be terrible for millions of truck drivers.

By Andrew Yang
Mr. Yang is a Democratic candidate for president.

Nov. 14, 2019

During the last Democratic debate, in Ohio, there was a moment that stood out. Elizabeth Warren and I got into a debate over the impact of automation versus trade on the elimination of manufacturing jobs. Joe Biden also chimed in, agreeing that the fourth industrial revolution is costing jobs, so it’s important to deal with the root causes.

Immediately, fact checkers were quick to point to a study showing that 88 percent of factory job losses from 2000 to 2010 were caused by automation. Yet, in the days following that debate, some prominent media figures asserted that the threat of automation is not real. The Times columnist Paul Krugman even called it “a sort of escapist fantasy for centrists who don’t want to confront truly hard questions.”

It’s easy to cite incomplete statistics that ignore the full picture and the situation on the ground, but I’ve done the math while spending time in struggling communities. Venture for America, the nonprofit I founded, sent me across this country, to Detroit, St. Louis, Birmingham, Ala., and other communities, where we attempted to spur entrepreneurship and create jobs. It was during this time when I spoke with workers who had lost their jobs to automation and couldn’t find more work. My organization was helping to create jobs, but automation was displacing tens of thousands of workers in these states. We were pouring water into a bathtub with a giant hole ripped in the bottom.

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Our economic numbers need to measure what matters. We know stock market prices don’t mean much to the 78 percent of workers in this country who are living paycheck to paycheck or the 40 percent of workers who are a $400 bill away from financial crisis.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/opinion/andrew-yang-jobs.html

It's those 78% and 40% of Americans I'm most concerned about. As of 2018, less than 3% of Americans working hourly jobs were paid minimum wage or less.

The reason I prefer the Freedom Dividend to a $15MW is because I think it's a better idea to give 100% of Americans an economic boost, than 3% of Americans.

Ever since the 80's I have thought that what would help people and the economy the most is a 'bubble up' economy, instead of the trickle down version republicans implemented. I still think it is the best way to help and I hope democrats get behind this idea.

People can sneer and mock and laugh, but I will support Yang unless and until he drops out.