Raising the floor: how a universal basic income can renew our economy and rebuild the American dream PDF
Preview Raising the floor: how a universal basic income can renew our economy and rebuild the American dream
RAISING THE FLOOR R A I S I N G T H E F LO O R HOW A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME CAN RENEW OUR ECONOMY AND REBUILD THE AMERICAN DREAM ANDY STERN LEE KRAVITZ WITH New York Copyright © 2016 by Andy Stern. Published in the United States by PublicAff airs™, an imprint of Perseus Books, a division of PBG Publishing, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107. PublicAffairs books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail special [email protected]. Library of Congress Control Number: 2016931951 ISBN 978-1-61039-625-7 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-61039-626-4 (e-book) First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Matt, Kaitlyn, and Cassie . . . and to a new American Dream where each of our children has the freedom and security to choose the life they want for themselves and their family CONTENTS My Invitation ix Introduction: Can We Invent a Better Future? 1 1 My Journey 11 2 Are We at a Strategic Inflection Point? 24 3 The Elephant in the Room: Technology’s Impact on Jobs 51 4 The New Landscape of Work 74 5 The Dark Side of the Gig Economy 91 6 Wither the American Dream? 119 7 En Route to a New American Dream 145 8 A Twenty-First-Century Solution to a Twenty-First-Century Problem 171 Epilogue: Join the Conversation #RaisingTheFloor 223 Acknowledgments 227 Notes 229 Index 247 vii MY INVITATION S(cid:418)(cid:433)(cid:429)(cid:414)(cid:414)(cid:423) (cid:434)(cid:414)(cid:410)(cid:427)(cid:428) (cid:418)(cid:423)(cid:429)(cid:424) the twenty-first century we are trying to find solu- tions to its unique problems—especially those that are challenging the way we work, earn a living, and support our families—with ideas and methods that worked in the twentieth. Most Americans—working or not—have lived through a very tough period, especially since the financial crash of 2008. What I have found from speaking with thousands of people from every eco- nomic strata is that they often blame themselves for not finding a permanent or good-paying job; for getting laid off or working incon- sistent hours; for taking multiple low-wage jobs or contingent work just to make ends meet; for, especially in the case of recent college graduates, needing to move back into their parents’ house; for not building a nest egg or enough savings to retire; for working tirelessly so that their kids could go to college—and now their children can’t get a job. What I want to say to each and every one is: This should not be about personal blame because the changes that are causing this job- less, wage-less recovery are structural. You worked hard. You played by the rules. You did exactly what you were supposed to do to fulfill your part of America’s social contract. There is hope for our economy and future, but only if we come to terms with how the current explosion in technology is likely to create a shortage of jobs, a surplus of labor, and a bigger and bigger gap be- tween the rich and poor over the next twenty years. ix
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