Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and businessman Andrew Yang clashed on whether automation was to blame for job loss in Tuesday night’s Democratic debate.
“The data show that we have a lot of problems with losing jobs, but the principle reason has been bad trade policy,” Warren said, defending a previous statement that automation was merely “a good story.”
Warren pointed to her plan for Accountable Capitalism, which would require large companies to fill 40 percent of their board with directors elected by workers, as a solution.
“Sen. Warren, I’ve been talking to Americans around the country about automation, and they’re smart. They see what’s happening around them. Their Main Street stores are closing, they see a self-serve kiosk in every McDonald’s, every grocery store, every CVS,” Yang shot back.
Yang, whose campaign is centered on a universal basic income that would pay every family $1,000 a month, earned applause after noting that 3.5 million truck drivers were poised to lose jobs as self-driving trucks come onto the market.
“Saying this is a rules problem is ignoring the reality that Americans see around us every single day,” he said.
Warren responded, saying, “I see this as an important question, but I want to understand the data on this, I want to make sure we’re responding to make this work.”
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro took a middle road, and even said he would favor running pilot programs on universal basic income.
“I think what folks have said is that that is only part of the issue,” he said.
His main solution focused on investing in infrastructure and implementing a Green New Deal to produce more jobs.