Oren Cass: American Economic Stagnation

Tech & Jobs

Oren Cass highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements like automation. He argues that while technology can boost productivity, the benefits often fail to reach workers, leading to increased profits for shareholders instead. This trend, especially post-2000, has resulted in fewer jobs and stagnant wages, contrasting with the mid-20th century model where productivity gains led to higher wages and more jobs 1. Cass emphasizes the need to balance technological progress with worker benefits, moving away from market fundamentalism that assumes growth will naturally benefit everyone 2.

The reason that some of this sort of automation and technology tends to, I think, raise more of a problem and more conflict is because it's broadly understood and empirically has been the case that workers aren't sharing in the gains that that generates.

--- Oren Cass

Ensuring that technological progress translates into tangible benefits for workers requires a shift in how we approach economic growth.

   

Worker Power

Enhancing worker power is crucial for ensuring fair benefits from technological progress. Oren Cass argues that without worker power, new technologies can lead to exploitation rather than empowerment. He suggests that worker bargaining power is preferable to government regulation, as it allows for more direct negotiation between workers and employers 3. The New Right, which Cass is associated with, supports a more traditional conservative view that values worker power and unions, albeit with a critical eye on their current dysfunctions 4.

In a world where you have worker power and using truckers as an example, in a world where truckers have some power and are well represented, then to your point, automation could be a great thing for truckers.

--- Oren Cass

This perspective sees organized labor as essential for ensuring that capitalism benefits all, not just the few.