Sustaining Capitalism

April 1, 2020 is Census Day—Americans responding to the once-in-a-decade count will report where they were living on that day. As the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board outlined in its policy brief, The 2020 Census: The Importance of an Accurate and Robust Accounting of our Nation’s Population, the census is the primary source of data on the nation’s population and economy, used to determine our system of political representation, inform business development and investment, and allocate government funds to where they are most needed. As such, the accuracy of the population count is critical for decision-making in the decade ahead and forms an important basis for trust in the fairness of government. But this year’s Census will face unique and uncertain challenges in the form of a COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Kueppers, a retired Senior Partner at Deloitte LLP and chair of the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board’s Money In Politics Subcommittee, and Nick Hart, President of the Data Foundation, join to discuss why the Census is so important, what challenges it faces in light of the COVID-19 virus, and how employers can help to ensure a successful count.

In a rapidly changing 21st-century economy with growing competition from abroad, continuing to field a world-leading, skilled workforce is both more essential and more challenging than ever to the mission of delivering increasing prosperity for American families and preserving our nation’s economic leadership. In the face of uncertain technological disruption, business leaders and policymakers will need to carefully consider the necessary changes and adjustments that could help to ensure that all Americans, including those whose potential contributions the US has failed to fully support and cultivate in the past, are better positioned to prosper in the future.

Molly Kinder, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program and lead author of Worker Voices: Technology and the Future for Workers, joins to discuss her work examining the impact of emerging technologies on low wage workers and women and the challenges and opportunities of such technology as perceived by workers in occupations most at-risk of automation.

As described in the October 2019 Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board (CED) policy statement Growing the American Workforce: Bolstering Participation Is Critical for US Competitiveness and Economic Strength, the growth of women in the paid workforce was among the most significant labor market stories of post-WWII America. But, after leading much of the world in the trend towards fuller female participation, the US now routinely lags many of its advanced economy peers. With an aging population and slowing labor force growth posing long-run risks to the economic strength and fiscal health of the country, the US must make full use of our available talent, including from groups whose potential contributions the US has failed to fully support and cultivate in the past, in order to achieve growing and broadly shared prosperity and remain globally competitive in a rapidly changing 21st-century economy.

Manager of Economic Research at Schmidt Futures and former Research Director at Indeed.com’s Hiring Lab, Martha Gimbel joins us to discuss the trends, barriers, and policy choices shaping women’s labor force participation in the US.

In a rapidly changing 21st-century economy, continuing to field a world-leading, skilled workforce is both more essential and more challenging than ever to the mission of delivering increasing prosperity for American families and preserving our nation’s global economic leadership. The US must confront its demographic challenges, as an aging population and slowing labor force growth pose long-run risks to the economic strength and fiscal health of the country.

To help confront these challenges and offer policy makers and business leaders balanced, reasoned solutions in the public interest, in October 2019, the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board (CED) released Growing the American Workforce: Bolstering Participation Is Critical for US Competitiveness and Economic Strength with recommendations focused on making it easier and more attractive for more Americans to find work and remain working. CED’s workforce subcommittee co-chair, Paul Decker, President and CEO of Mathematica, will join us to discuss this policy brief, its insights for what’s ahead, and how its recommendations could spur economic growth.