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encourage workers to establish 401 （k） tax…deferred savings programs。 Each worker
and his or her employer could make contributions of cash； bonuses； profit sharing；
or stock； depending on what sorts of benefits the specific employer offered。 These
assets would be allowed to build up tax…free in whatever savings or investment
portfolio options the worker chose。 But if and when it came time to change jobs； the
worker could take the whole portfolio with him or her and not have to either cash
it out or leave it under the umbrella of the previous employer。 Rollover provisions
do exist today； but they are complicated and many workers don't take advantage of
them because of that。
The universal pension format would make rollover simple； easy； and
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expected； so pension lockup per se would never keep someone from moving from one job
to another。 Each employer could still offer his or her own specific 401 （k） benefit
plan； as an incentive to attract employees。 But once a worker moved to another job；
the investments in that particular 401 （k） would just automatically dump into his
or her universal pension account。 With each new job； a new 401 （k） could be started；
and with each move； the benefits deposited in that same universal pension account。
In addition to this simple； portable； and universal pension program； Will Marshall；
president of the Progressive Policy Institute； proposes legislation that would make
it much easier and more likely for workers to obtain stock options in the companies
for which they work。 Such legislation would give tax incentives to companies to give
more workers more options earlier and penalize companies that do not。 Part of making
workers more mobile is creating more ways to make more workers owners of financial
assets； not just their own labor。 〃We want a public that sees itself as stakeholders；
sharing in the capital…creating side of the flat world； not just competing in global
labor markets/' argued Marshall。 〃We all have to be owners as well as wage earners。
That is where public policy has to be focused…to make sure that people have
wealth…producing assets as they enter the twenty…first century； the way homeownership
accomplished that in the twentieth century。〃
Why？ Because there is an increasing body of literature that says people who are
stakeholders； people who have a slice of the pie； 〃are more deeply invested in our
system of democratic capitalism and the policies thatkeep itdynamic；〃 said Marshall。
It is another way； besides home…ownership； to underpin the legitimacy of democratic
capitalism。 It is also another way to energize it； because workers who are also owners
are more productive on the job。 Moreover； in a flat world where every worker is going
to face suffer competition； the more opportunities everyone has to build wealth
through the power of markets and compounding interest； the more he or she will be
able to be self…reliant。 We need to give workers every stabilizer we can and make
it as easy for them to get stock options as it is for the plutocrats。 Instead of just
being focused on protecting
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those with existing capital； as conservatives so often seem to be； let's focus instead
on widening the circle of capital owners。
On the health…care side； which I won't delve into in great detail； since that would
be a book unto itself； it is essential that we develop a scheme for portable health
insurance that reduces some of the burden on employers for providing and managing
coverage。 Virtually every entrepreneur I talked to for this book cited soaring and
uncontrolled healthcare costs in America as a reason to move factories abroad to
countries where benefits were more limited； or nonexistent； or where there was
national health insurance。 Again； I favor the type of portable health…care program
proposed by PPL The idea is to set up state…by…state collective purchasing pools；
the way Congress and federal employees now cover themselves。 These pools would set
the rules and create the marketplace in which insurance companies could offer a menu
of options。 Each employer would then be responsible for offering this menu of options
to each new employee。 Workers could choose high； medium； or low coverage。 Everyone；
though； would have to be covered。 Depending on the employer； he or she would cover
part or all of the premiums and the employee the rest。 But employers would not be
responsible for negotiating plans with insurance companies； where they have little
individual clout。
The state or federal pools would do that。 This way employees would be totally mobile
and could take their health…care coverage wherever they went。 This type of plan has
worked like a charm for members of Congress； so why not offer it to the wider public？
Needy and low…income workers who could not afford to join a plan would get some
government subsidy to do so。 But the main idea is to establish a government…supervised；
…regulated； and …subsidized private insurance market in which government sets the
broad rules so that there is no cherry…picking of healthy workers or arbitrary denial
of treatment。 The health care itself is administered privately； and the job of
employers is to facilitate their workers' entry into one of these state pools and；
ideally； help them pay for some or all of the premiums； but not be responsible for
the health care themselves。 In the transition； though； employers could continue to
offer health…care plans as an incentive； and workers would have the option of
going with either the plan offered by their employers or the menu of options available
through the state purchasing pools。 （For details； go to ppionline。org。）
One can quibble about the details of any of these proposals； but I think the basic
inspiration behind them is exactly right： In a flattening world； where worker security
can no longer be guaranteed by Fortune 500 corporations with top…down pension and
health plans； we need more collaborative solutions…among government； labor； and
business…that will promote self…reliant workers but not just leave them to fend for
themselves。
When it comes to building muscles of employability； government has another critical
role to play。 Each century； as we push out the frontiers of human knowledge； work
at every level becomes more complex； requiring more pattern recognition and problem
solving。 In the preindustrial age； human strength really mattered。 Strength was a
real service that lots of people could sell on the farm or in the workshop。 With the
invention of the electric motor and steam engine； though； physical strength became
less important。 Small women could drive big trucks。 There is little premium for
strength anymore。 But there is an increasing premium for pattern recognition and
complex problem solving； even down on the farm。 Farming became a more
knowledge…intensive activity； with GPS satellites guiding tractors to make sure all
the rows being planted were straight。 That modernization； plus fertilizer； put a lot
of people out of work at the previous wage they were earning in agriculture。
Society as a whole looked at this transition from traditional agriculture to
industrialization and said； 〃This is great！ We will have more food and better food
at lower costs； plus more people to work in factories。〃 However； muscle…bound field
hands and their families said； 〃This is a tragedy。 How will I ever get a job in the
industrial economy with only muscles and a sixth…grade education？ I won't be able
to eat any of that better； cheaper； plentiful food coming off the farms。 We need to
stop this move to industrialization。〃
Somehow we got through this transition from an agriculture…based so…
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ciety one hundred years ago to an industrial…based one…and still ended up with a higher
standard of living for the vast majority of Americans。 How did we do it？
〃We said everyone is going to have to have a secondary education；〃 said Stanford
University economist Paul Romer。 〃That was what the high school movement in the early
part ofthe twentieth century was all about。〃 As economic historians have demonstrated
in a variety of research （see particularly the work of Harvard economists Claudia
Goldin and Larry Katz）； both technology and trade are making the pie bigger； but they
are also shifting the shares of that pie away from low…skilled labor to high…skilled
labor。 As American society produced more higher…skilled people by making high school
mandatory； it empowered more people to get a bigger slice of the bigger； more complex
economic pie。 As that century progressed； weadded； on top ofthe high school movement；
the GI Bill and the modern university system。
〃These were big ideas；〃 noted Romer； 〃and what is missing at the moment is a political
imagination of how do we do something just as big and just as important for the
transition into the twenty…first century as we did for the nineteenth and twentieth。〃
The obvious challenge； Romer added； is to make tertiary education； if not compulsory；
then government…subsidized for at least two years； whether it is at a state university；
a community college；