U.S. Vice President Joe Biden criticised modern corporate “short-termism” on Wednesday (January 20) and urged chief executives gathered in Davos to look after their workers as well as their shareholders.
Relishing his nickname of “middle-class Joe”, he told delegates at the World Economic Forum annual meeting that the middle classes, the backbone of economies and democracies, now faced unprecedented threats from technological change.
“For I believe the underlying question for world leaders, civil society, academia, the media, for all of us, goes to what President Obama and I refer to, referenced by Klaus a moment ago, to what we believe is the defining challenge of our time. And that is how do we ensure wide access to middle class, which is being hollowed out in the 21st Century?” Biden said.
“It is true, as some of the American press know, and the United States now refers to me as ‘Middle Class Joe’. In Washington that’s not a compliment. It means I’m not sophisticated. But I’m not making a populist case. This is not about class warfare. It’s about the shared economic well-being and global security. It’s something we should all care about and something we can all do something about,” he added.
Biden told the audience that more needs to be done to look after workers in order to improve economic prosperity.
“My call to action here is simple – embrace your obligation to workers as well as your shareholders. It’s good for workers, it’s good for your business, it’s good for your productivity, it’s good for society and there’s nothing about it that doesn’t recognise the support and reinforce the capital markets,” he said.
Many experts fear the next wave of innovations will destroy millions of jobs, hollowing out middle-income employment across manufacturing and the service sectors, even as new highly skilled computing jobs are created.
That, Biden said, represented a major threat to all members of society.
“And the reason why I talk about the middle class is that I firmly believe that a thriving and growing middle class has been the main reason for economic stability, political stability and social stability in our democracies. It is the fibre that holds us together. When the middle class does well, the wealthy do very well, and the poor have a ladder up,” he said.
Many of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people are gathered in the Swiss Alps this week to discuss business and the wider state of the world, against a backdrop of tumbling stock markets and increased geopolitical tensions.
Those market ructions are dominating many conversations, although the challenges and opportunities of the so-called fourth industrial revolution – an umbrella term for robotics, artificial intelligence and hyperconnectivity – remain the official topic of this year’s meeting.
