Department of the Future Economy

Within the Department of Commerce, Marco will work with his colleagues to add a sub-division, the Department of the Future Economy.

  • The DFE will be focused on trends in automation, AI, healthcare, human well-being, and the environment so that Washington State can act pro-actively and anticipate changes in our increasingly dynamic, uncertain times.  There will also be potentialities of an inter-state council and communication when circumstances present themselves

  • The Department of the Future Economy will focus on expanding employee and individual rights in intellectual property disputes and protecting workers in an era of enhanced AI and digital surveillance. As technology advances, we must guard against new forms of exploitation, including employers misusing AI or digital tools to monitor, harvest, or even steal employee login information, creative output, or personal data. Just as we take a no-tolerance approach to union busting, we will ensure that Washington leads the way in setting clear rules: your ideas, your data, and your dignity at work are not commodities to be taken without consent or compensation.

  • Among other things, there is widespread acknowledgment among economists and thinkers that our long-standing economic indicators, largely formulated in the early 20th and late 19th centuries, are not providing reliable measurements of our true well-being, in both an economic and social framework. Unemployment rates are not as accurate or valuable in a changing, increasingly complex economy; GDP is mechanical and shallow.  While still valuring these brick-and-mortar measurements, Marco will instruct the Dept. of Commerce to include forward-thinking measurements, two of which are: the Genuine Progress Indicator and Gross National Happiness.

  • The DFE will further investigate other types of measurements that take into account not just material, but also health, mental health, work-life balance, standard work-week review, and more, into innovative measurements and recommendations that can inform public policy in a 21st century, humanistic fashion.