March 24, 2026· 55 min

David Shor and Byrne Hobart on the Politics of a White-Collar Wipeout

Orality
Model
80%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic33%
definitely, very, basically
Engagement71%
you'll, you, your
Memory Aids100%
see, right, now
Repetition100%
like (222x), know (138x), think (130x)
Parallelism90%
But PDF spaces in Adobe Acroba..., So if you need six departments..., And I'm Tracy Alloway....
Sound Patterns51%
65 question(s), alliteration: "tend to", alliteration: "trying to"
Formulaic Phrases3%
you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging7%
could, maybe, might
Passive Voice8%
is designed, is scattered, is exposed
Abstract Nouns19%
business, information, payment
Subordination5%
since, because, though
Sentence Length47%
Avg: 16.8 words/sentence
Word Complexity47%
business, overly, complicated
Academic Markers0%
Impersonal Style29%
915 personal pronouns found
Descriptive Style100%
overly, finally, monthly

Description

Nobody knows when or if AI will lead to mass displacement of white-collar work. But the anxiety is clearly here now, and there's very little evidence that our politicians are taking it seriously. Of course, there are at least two questions operating at once here. The first is whether or not AI really poses a significant threat to the existing labor market. And then the second one is about the correct policy response. This was the subject of a recent Odd Lots episode recorded live at SXSW in Austin, Texas. In this conversation, we were joined by David Shor, a political consultant, pollster and founder of Blue Rose Research, as well as Byrne Hobart, the writer of TheDiff newsletter, and a general partner at Anomaly Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm. We discuss the prospects of a labor market disaster, what David's polling says about the public view, and possible policy considerations that could be palatable to both industry and the general public. Read more: Fink Says AI Threatens to Leave Masses Behind Unless They Invest Private Capital Turns to Old Economy as Software Trade Dims Only http://Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at  bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots Subscribe to the Odd Lots Newsletter Join the conversation: discord.gg/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.