Optimist Economy
Optimist Economy
Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi
If AI Gets Hired, America Can Handle It
51 minutes Posted Mar 17, 2026 at 8:30 am.
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Switchboard operators. Typists. Secretaries. Lots of factory workers. The economy has a long history of technology slowly eliminating not just jobs but entire occupations. The U.S. also has a long history of not doing a lot to help those thrown out of work by major economic shifts. Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, who literally wrote her dissertation on unemployment insurance (her professional assessment: "it sucks"), makes the case for a wholesale rebuild that triages joblessness, distinguishing between those who need time to job hunt and those who need to pivot to a new career. 
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