Job Guarantees & Public Works Programs

In testimony to the U.S. Senate, Patrick Gaspard advocated for a "targeted job guarantee" to act as an employer of last resort during the AI transition. He argues that unlike UBI, which provides cash but no economic role, a job guarantee preserves the "dignity and meaning" of work while directing labor toward neglected community needs in hard-hit regions.

Polling of 12,000 Americans conducted by Blue Rose Research found robust public support for job guarantees over UBI as a response to AI-driven job displacement. When asked about a hypothetical world where AI performs most paid work, only 23% of respondents viewed being free to pursue their interests as positive, while the majority emphasized that jobs provide dignity and purpose beyond income. Americans consistently preferred government-provided jobs over cash transfers untethered from work with this preference holding across most demographic and partisan groups. The findings suggest that policymakers exploring responses to AI displacement should prioritize job guarantee programs that channel displaced workers into societally productive work, rather than relying solely on retraining programs or unconditional income support.

The Levy Economics Institute has long championed the Job Guarantee, with Pavilina Tcherneva arguing in The Case for a Job Guarantee that a federally funded, locally administered public option for work is the most effective macroeconomic stabilizer for the automation age, as it targets care and repair work that machines cannot perform.