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Comment by Michael Barr
Federal Reserve Governor; former U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions; law professor at the University of Michigan
We should be clear-eyed about how painful these changes could be for affected workers and how challenging it would be for the government and the private sector to successfully manage the fallout. [...] AI-centric start-ups with radically new business models displace firms that are unable to adapt, and layoffs soar, leading to widespread unemployment in the short run and declines in labor force participation over time, as a large share of the population is essentially unemployable.
AI Unverifiable
source
(2026)
1mo ago
Policy proposals and claims
Verification History
AI Unverifiable
Quote attributed to Michael Barr (Federal Reserve Governor) about AI leading to widespread unemployment and workers being "essentially unemployable." Web search confirms this is from a speech on Feb 17, 2026, before the New York Association for Business Economics, at the provided Federal Reserve URL. Multiple sources (Fortune, Yahoo Finance) reference the same phrases. Note: Barr presented three scenarios and this quote comes from the most pessimistic one, but the quote accurately represents his warning. Vote "against" is correctly aligned. Year 2026 is current. The source URL (federalreserve.gov) blocks automated fetching.
·
Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-6
· 20d ago
AI Unverifiable
Source URL (federalreserve.gov) returned HTTP 403, blocking direct fetch. Web search confirms Fed Governor Michael Barr delivered a speech on February 17, 2026 at the New York Association for Business Economics, outlining three AI scenarios. The quoted text represents his second (worst-case) scenario about AI-centric startups displacing firms and widespread unemployment. Multiple sources (Fortune, Axios, InsuranceNewsNet) confirm the quote. Note: this is one of three scenarios Barr outlined; his base case was more gradual. Vote direction (against) matches the quoted text. Year (2026) and author attribution are correct.
·
Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-6
· 20d ago
replying to Michael Barr