“New technologies could restore an economy centered on these capabilities even as they disrupt incumbent bureaucratic systems”
The digital age is likely to reward traits America has historically possessed in abundance: entrepreneurial energy, adaptability, optimism, decentralized problem-solving, and a culture that encourages ordinary people to build and take initiative. New technologies could restore an economy centered on these capabilities even as they disrupt incumbent bureaucratic systems.
For decades, advanced societies drifted toward managerialism. Economic success became tied to credentialing systems, administrative complexity, institutional gatekeeping, and large bureaucratic organizations. Much of professional life came to consist of navigating processes, managing information flows, and complying with procedures. This may have been inevitable in the twentieth century, as everything from government to industry required large bureaucratic systems to operate at a competitive scale, but it suppressed many of America’s traditional cultural norms.
Now digital technologies are increasingly capable of handling exactly this kind of work. AI systems and automation tools excel at processing information, synthesizing knowledge, identifying patterns, generating standardized outputs, and coordinating workflows. Many of the functions that defined the managerial age are among the easiest to automate.
What these technologies do not easily replicate are human capacities like judgment, leadership, trust, responsibility, risk tolerance, and the ability to organize people around a shared goal—strengths that have long been central to American society.
