Yang outlines problems, solutions to deal with 'Fourth Industrial Revolution'

Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang lays out his plan for economic development and discusses how machines are replacing truck drivers and cashiers at a National Press Club Headliners Newsmakers event on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. Photos: Victoria Gaither

 

Contending that the United States is in the midst of the “greatest economic transformation” in its history, Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate on Monday outlined the problems caused by the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” and his proposed solutions.

Addressing a National Press Club Newsmakers event, Yang said that increased automation and technology will result in millions of jobs being lost in the next decade and the country needs to start now to figure out how to help those millions transition to the new economy.

Noting that millions of manufacturing jobs have already been lost, Yang contended in the near future it will be jobs in retail, call centers, and even trucking that will be replaced by automation. He estimated that 2.5 million workers would lose their jobs in call centers due to artificial intelligence and better software. In the next five to 10 years, he said, 3.5 million truck drivers will be replaced with self-driving trucks, and another 7 million, who work in truck stops, hotels, and diners, will be displaced because of the loss of the trucking jobs.

A main pillar of Yang’s platform is the Freedom Dividend, a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 a month for every American adult over age 18. He said Alaska currently pays its citizens $1,000-$2,000 a year from oil earnings. His dividend could be paid from “technology money,” the amount saved by implementing new technology, he said, which currently goes to Facebook, Amazon and Google. A recent study found “data is worth more than oil," he added.

The money could be used for anything, Yang said. He said he is currently giving the UBI payment to several families and it is not about the money but “about their humanity and values.”

One, whose mother has cancer, spent some of the money on a guitar and is performing shows, while another is going back to school. The money means different things to different people but this is a way to “positively transform American lives for the better,” Yang said.

In regard to the truckers who will loss jobs, Yang said he would immediately appoint a “trucking czar” and make clear messaging that jobs will be lost. Because of the lead time workers could save half of their UBI checks and have $30,000-$40,000 to help when the time comes.

Yang also said he would modernize the way the economy is measured. Currently, the three key measurements are the gross domestic product, the stock market, and the unemployment rate, all of which have “very little relationship” to what is happening in communities, he said.

GDP, which is 100 years old, should include things like life expectancy, mental health, clean air and water, and freedom from substance abuse, Yang said.

Stock market prices only correspond to the top 20% of Americans, and the unemployment rate is misleading because it does not count people who have dropped out of the workforce or those who are underemployed or in temporary jobs, Yang said.