Aligning Our Policies with Where the Economy Is Going, Instead of Where It Is

Lenny Mendonca, Chair of New America, sees strong parallels between our current economic moment and the tail-end of the Industrial Revolution, which coincided with the progressive movement of the late 20th century. This period encompassed “really fundamental changes in the politics and policies and governance of the country,” says Mendonca, which “were necessary to align with the whole set of changes that were happening in the industrial sectors.” Mendonca isn’t so worried that the robots will take all of our jobs, but he does express concern as to who will benefit during this transition, and who will fall (farther) behind. He sees the gravitation towards platforms as a generally positive development: “it removes friction on the labor markets, it creates opportunities for people to work on their terms and their hours, it creates opportunities for people to supplement their income, it creates opportunities for much more flexibility.” A downside to this, says Mendonca, is that the social safety net remains tied, for the most part, to traditional full-time employment. He argues that our primary challenge moving forward is to ensure that our institutions and our governing mechanisms are aligned with where the economy is going tomorrow, not where it is today.