Toward a new capitalism: The promise of opportunity and the future of work

This document, “The Promise of Opportunity and the Future of Work,” describes how technology and global competition have modernized the American economy in many positive ways, but that some changes have also made it harder for Americans to find jobs with the wages, benefits, and skills training to get ahead. The associated policy agenda, “A Policy Agenda to Restore the Promise of Work,” offers a set of ideas to meet the challenge. It recognizes that policymakers have often responded to the aforementioned trends with regulations meant to protect employees, but this approach can drive up costs and encourage businesses to rely more heavily on contract and contingent work, which in turn provides even less security to workers. This agenda provides an alternate approach, one that restores the promise of work with – out stifling innovation. It is a work in progress, and neither one of us endorses every single idea. We offer these ideas in order to start a conversation across sectors and parties about how we can come together to address these common challenges.