Economist Rob Seamans on AI labor policy: don't penalize tech layoffs, invest in skills training
robseamans · x · 2026-09-22
Economist Rob Seamans lays out a do/don't list for AI-era labor policy.
Policies to avoid: AI-specific, AI-targeted measures—notably attempts to determine whether layoffs are directly caused by technology adoption, which he argues is administratively impractical, risks penalizing productive investment, and could slow diffusion of growth-enhancing tech.
What to do instead:
- Promote AI-enabled skill training and scale proven workforce training models
- Modernize existing labor market adjustment mechanisms
- Expand wage insurance
- Fix the tax code's preferential treatment of capital
- Improve national statistical infrastructure
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