Oren Cass Books
Oren Cass is an American public policy expert and the founder of American Compass, a think tank focused on conservative economic policy. He previously served as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and as domestic policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Known for: The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
Books by Oren Cass
The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
What if America’s economic problem is not that people consume too little, but that too many people cannot find work that supports a family, builds dignity, and anchors a community? In The Once and Future Worker, Oren Cass argues that modern economic policy has drifted away from a basic truth: a healthy society depends on meaningful work. For decades, leaders across the political spectrum have judged success through GDP growth, cheaper consumer goods, and rising aggregate wealth. Cass contends that this framework misses what matters most in everyday life—whether people can contribute productively, form stable families, and participate in strong local institutions. Blending economic analysis with social criticism, Cass challenges the assumption that low prices and high consumption are enough to define prosperity. He calls instead for a worker-centered economy, one that values labor market health over abstract efficiency and treats employment as a social good, not merely a cost. Drawing on his experience as a public policy expert and founder of American Compass, Cass offers a provocative, policy-driven vision for renewing work in America through reforms in education, trade, welfare, and labor institutions.
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How America Lost Sight of Work
A society can become richer on paper while growing weaker in practice. That is the historical puzzle Oren Cass places at the center of this book. In the decades after World War II, the United States built an economy in which rising productivity, strong industrial employment, and family formation oft...
From The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
Work Is More Than A Paycheck
The most important thing about work may be what it does to people, not just what it pays them. Cass insists that labor should not be understood as merely one input in a market transaction. Work shapes identity, discipline, social responsibility, and belonging. A job can give a person structure, conn...
From The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
The Limits of Consumer Prosperity
Cheaper products are not the same as a stronger society. One of Cass’s sharpest critiques is aimed at the consumption-centered model that has dominated modern economic thinking. In this model, policy is considered successful if consumers get lower prices, more choices, and greater purchasing power. ...
From The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
Education Should Prepare Producers, Not Just Students
A great education system does more than send the most ambitious students to college. Cass argues that America’s education culture has become too narrowly organized around a single ideal: the bachelor’s degree as the default route to success. In practice, this model leaves many young people underserv...
From The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
Trade Must Serve National Labor Health
Free trade is not automatically good if it hollows out the nation’s capacity to employ its people well. Cass challenges the conventional wisdom that trade liberalization should be pursued whenever it increases efficiency or lowers consumer prices. He argues that trade policy must be evaluated in lig...
From The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
Labor Institutions Shape Market Outcomes
Markets do not simply discover wages and conditions; institutions help determine them. Cass emphasizes that labor markets are not natural phenomena operating in a vacuum. Rules, norms, bargaining structures, immigration policy, and corporate governance all influence how gains are distributed between...
From The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
About Oren Cass
Oren Cass is an American public policy expert and the founder of American Compass, a think tank focused on conservative economic policy. He previously served as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and as domestic policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Cass writes extens...
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Oren Cass is an American public policy expert and the founder of American Compass, a think tank focused on conservative economic policy. He previously served as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and as domestic policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Cass writes extens...
Oren Cass is an American public policy expert and the founder of American Compass, a think tank focused on conservative economic policy. He previously served as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and as domestic policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Cass writes extensively on labor, trade, and economic issues.
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Oren Cass is an American public policy expert and the founder of American Compass, a think tank focused on conservative economic policy. He previously served as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and as domestic policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
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