Subject: RE: Following up on discussion on the Equitable Growth Steering Committee call
From: "Alan S. Blinder" <[email-masked]>
To: Barbara Lewis <[email-masked]>, steve daetz <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Sandler, Herbert" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 03:08:34 +0000

Can't this week. I am in Cuba with very limited internet service
________________________________________
From: Barbara Lewis [[email-masked]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 2:32 PM
To: steve daetz; Alan S. Blinder
Cc: Sandler, Herbert; [email-masked]
Subject: RE: Following up on discussion on the Equitable Growth Steering Committee call

Steve, Alan, Herb, John:

As for a phone call, good days for me are November 6, 11, 12, 13 (except 1:15-2:45), 16, 17, 19 (before 3), 20.

I think this issue is important and likely to become more so. Seems premature to start out with policy. At a minimum we need to define clearly what group of non-standard workers/jobs we're talking about, and then figure out how many of them there are. Then questions like: how much of this comes from technology, how much from desire of employers to escape overtime pay, benefits, unions, how much from workers' preference for mobility, part-time, flexibility, how much from weak labor market generally, and so on. Uber gets all the attention, but temps, short-term contracts, contingent workers probably much more numerous.

Maybe do through WCEG if the capacity is there, as prelude to later work. Maybe find a university group willing to take it on. Russell Sage already has a Future of Work program that might turn in this direction.

Bob

________________________________
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]; [email-masked]
CC: [email-masked]; [email-masked]; [email-masked]
Subject: Following up on discussion on the Equitable Growth Steering Committee call
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2015 17:26:49 +0000

Hi Bob and Alan:  On our steering committee call last week, John Podesta raised the issue of changing trends in the nature of work, which Bob referred to as the “casualization” of work and is sometimes called the “on-demand” economy, 1099 economy, Uberization, etc…   We have been following these trends and are interested in the potential implications (e.g. on issues like the safety net, bargaining power over wages/benefits, distribution of wealth, consumer protections, etc…).  The issue seems to be getting more popular media attention, but the policy landscape seems stuck in a different era.

Herb and I spoke briefly with John yesterday about what else might be done.

·         On the policy side, John is encouraging CAP to be more engaged, which Neera wants to do.  We think CAP plans to start by doing one or more policy-oriented convenings, and then decide what else to do.   I have spoken with CBPP to encourage them to reflect further on how these developments may impact the safety net policies they work on, both federally and in the states.  For example, some of their key policy issues, such as the EITC, are often dependent on traditional “employment” to receive the benefits.

·         We’re not sure how much serious academic work is being done in this area.  From the steering committee call, Alan noted that Alan Krueger is doing a paper on Uber and we know Heather hopes the RFP may yield some relevant research projects.  I also plan to reach out to Rob Johnson to see if INET or its network are thinking about these topics.

We’d be interested in:

o   Your thoughts on whether it would make sense to try and convene some academics on the topic, including to understand where there might be disagreement among them

o   Whether such a convening might be done through WCEG, or might be better done separately

o   Any other thoughts you may have for how to pursue this topic further in the academy, and whether it is a worthwhile pursuit

It probably makes sense to try and have a brief call by phone, rather than do this by email.  Herb and I are pretty flexible the rest of this week, and also the week of Nov 16-20.  Would any times work for you in those windows?  John would try and join the call, schedule permitting.

As background, if interested, here are a couple items that provide a pretty good overview of some of the issues:

·         Sen. Mark Warner, who is interested in the topic, wrote an op ed<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/asking-tough-questions-about-the-gig-economy/2015/06/18/b43f2d0a-1461-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html> in the Washington Post.

·         The Economist<http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21637355-freelance-workers-available-moments-notice-will-reshape-nature-companies-and> had a survey piece on this topic of freelance workers that covered a broad range of issues

Thank you.

Steve Daetz

Sandler Foundation