AI is powered by more than algorithms – underneath is a flawed, decades-old corporate operating system that redirects gains away from workers. The good news: It doesn’t have to be this way. Part of “AI and the Future of the American Worker,” a series on how artificial intelligence is impacting labor, power, and the meaning of work.
Thomas Ferguson isn’t easily surprised. He’s spent decades following the trail of money through America’s economy and political system, exposing patterns people like Jeff Bezos might prefer you didn’t see.

This paper analyses the European prohibition of monetary financing from an economic perspective. The prohibition seeks to safeguard central bank independence in setting monetary policy to maintain price stability, and to preserve fiscal discipline, thereby preventing monetary policy from becoming constrained or hindered by fiscal policies.

This paper examines how monetary policy announcements affect firms’ employment expectations. Using German survey data, we combine high-frequency monetary policy surprises with survey response dates to identify the immediate and dynamic effects of monetary policy on firm-level expectations and subsequent employment. Contractionary shocks lead firms to revise employment plans downward immediately and persistently, eventually reducing employment growth. Initially, hiring plans are reduced, while layoffs increase later.

Christopher Gust, Edward Herbst, and David López-SalidoWe develop a finite-horizon planning model in which firms choose how far ahead to plan when setting prices. Planning further ahead improves a firm's pricing decision but requires cognitive effort.