Long before COVID-19 struck, disruptive technological change, especially automation, was already worsening the plight of ordinary workers. With the new Omicron variant spreading rapidly and labor-saving innovation continuing apace – often in response to changes wrought by the pandemic – fresh policy thinking is urgently needed.
In this Big Picture , Betsey Stevenson , a former chief economist at the US Department of Labor, notes that whereas the COVID-19 crisis has increased some workers’ bargaining power, ongoing automation threatens to erode it. Likewise, Robert Skidelsky , writing in 2019, urged policymakers not to ignore technological innovation’s disruptive short-term effects on […]
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