Independent Workers

Instead of trying to make the new economy look more like the old, Washington should encourage the innovative new internet-driven business models unfolding around the world to create more opportunities and upward economic mobility for everybody.

The freedom of being an independent worker currently comes at the cost of forfeiting certain benefits.

As work evolves, how should policies evolve to ensure work still leads to a better future?

An estimated 80 million “sharers” in the US bought services from companies such as Uber and TaskRabbit last year.

In this country, we believe in the value of work. Hard work is a prerequisite to economic success, and it is also held up as a virtue in itself. The American ideal is that if you work hard and save then you should be able to pay your bills and take care of yourself and your family. In other words, you should not be poor. The ways in which we organize work, however, may work against that ideal.