Andrew Yang presidential campaign, 2020

Andrew Yang suspended his presidential campaign on February 11, 2020.

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2020 Presidential Election Date: November 3, 2020

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“	I’m not a career politician—I’m an entrepreneur who understands the economy. It’s clear to me, and to many of the nation’s best job creators, that we need to make an unprecedented change, and we need to make it now.	”
—Andrew Yang (February 2019)

Andrew Yang was a Democratic candidate for president of the United States in 2020. He filed to run for the office on November 6, 2017. He suspended his presidential campaign on February 11, 2020.

The cornerstone of Yang's platform was the universal basic income (UBI). Yang described the UBI as "a form of social security that guarantees a certain amount of money to every citizen within a given governed population, without having to pass a test or fulfill a work requirement." Yang's UBI proposal was a payment of $1,000 per month for every adult American citizen.

Prior to running for office, Yang founded Venture for America, a nonprofit organization that trains recent graduates and young professionals to work for startup companies in cities across the country.

Election results

New Hampshire primary

New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary on February 11, 2020

	Candidate	%	Votes	Pledged delegates
	Bernie Sanders	25.6	76,384	9
	Pete Buttigieg	24.3	72,454	9
	Amy Klobuchar	19.7	58,714	6
	Elizabeth Warren	9.2	27,429	0
	Joe Biden	8.4	24,944	0
	Thomas Steyer	3.6	10,732	0
	Tulsi Gabbard	3.3	9,755	0
	Andrew Yang	2.8	8,312	0
	Deval Patrick	0.4	1,271	0
	Michael Bennet	0.3	952	0
	Cory Booker	0.1	157	0
	Joe Sestak	0.1	152	0
	Kamala D. Harris	0.0	129	0
	Marianne Williamson	0.0	99	0
	Steve Burke	0.0	86	0
	Julián Castro	0.0	83	0
	John Delaney	0.0	83	0
	Steve Bullock	0.0	64	0
	Tom Koos	0.0	64	0
	David John Thistle	0.0	53	0
	Lorenz Kraus	0.0	52	0
	Robert Carr Wells Jr.	0.0	45	0
	Henry Hewes	0.0	43	0
	Sam Sloan	0.0	34	0
	Mosemarie Boyd	0.0	32	0
	Ben Gleiberman	0.0	31	0
	Mark Stewart Greenstein	0.0	31	0
	Thomas Torgesen	0.0	30	0
	Rita Krichevsky	0.0	23	0
	Michael Ellinger	0.0	19	0
	Jason E. Dunlap	0.0	12	0
	Roque De La Fuente III	0.0	11	0
	Raymond Moroz	0.0	8	0
	Other	2.0	6,081	0

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Source

Total votes: 298,369 • Total pledged delegates: 24

Yang in the news

See also: Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing and Editorial approach to story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing

This section featured five news stories about Yang and his presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Yang's campaign activity, click here.

Biography

Yang was born in 1975 and grew up in Schenectady, New York. He received a B.A. in economics and political science from Brown University and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.

Yang practiced corporate law for five months before becoming involved with startups in the areas of fundraising, healthcare, and education. His first effort was Stargiving.com, a website he launched in 2000 aimed at getting celebrities to make charitable donations. The site was unsuccessful, and he went on to serve as vice president of the healthcare software startup MMF Systems from 2002 to 2005. The following year, Yang founded the educational startup Manhattan Prep, where he served as CEO and president until 2011. In 2009, the company was acquired by Kaplan.

In 2011, Yang founded Venture for America, a nonprofit organization that trains recent graduates and young professionals to work for startup companies in cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. President Barack Obama (D) gave Yang the Champion of Change award in 2012 and named him presidential ambassador for global entrepreneurship in 2015.

Yang also wrote two books: Smart People Should Build Things in 2014 and The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future in 2018.

Prior to his 2020 presidential bid, Yang had not run for public office.

Campaign staff

See also: Andrew Yang presidential campaign staff, 2020, Presidential election key staffers, 2020, and Presidential campaign managers, 2020

The table below shows a sampling of the candidate's 2020 national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager and some senior advisors, political directors, communication directors, and field directors. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. For a larger list of national campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action.

Andrew Yang presidential campaign national staff, 2020
Staff	Position	Prior experience	Twitter handle
Zach Graumann	Campaign manager	Co-founder and CEO, SuitUp Incorporated	@Zach_Graumann
Randy Jones	Director of political affairs/press secretary	Political director, Peoples House Project	N/A
Madalin Sammons	Communications director	Communications director, Richard Ojeda's presidential campaign, 2020	@SammonsMadalin
Zach Fang	National organizing director	National organizing director, Tim Ryan's presidential campaign, 2020	N/A

Campaign finance

The following chart shows Democratic presidential campaign fundraising, including both total receipts and contributions from individuals, as well as campaign spending. Figures for each candidate run through the end of June 2020 or through the final reporting period during which the candidate was actively campaigning for president. The total disbursements column includes operating expenditures, transfers to other committees, refunds, loan repayments, and other disbursements.

Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

• Through January 2020, Humanity Forward Fund spent approximately $100,000 to support Yang.

• Through January 2020, MATH PAC spent more than $260,000 to support Yang.

Democratic presidential primary debates, 2019-2020

See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020

The following table provides an overview of the date, location, host, and number of participants in each scheduled 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate.

2020 Democratic presidential primary debates
Debate	Date	Location	Host	Number of participants
First Democratic primary debate	June 26-27, 2019	Miami, Florida	NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo	20 candidates
Second Democratic primary debate	July 30-31, 2019	Detroit, Michigan	CNN	20 candidates
Third Democratic primary debate	September 12, 2019	Houston, Texas	ABC News and Univision	10 candidates
Fourth Democratic primary debate	October 15, 2019	Westerville, Ohio	CNN and The New York Times	12 candidates
Fifth Democratic primary debate	November 20, 2019	Georgia	MSNBC and The Washington Post	10 candidates
Sixth Democratic primary debate	December 19, 2019	Los Angeles, California	PBS NewsHour and Politico	7 candidates
Seventh Democratic primary debate	January 14, 2020	Des Moines, Iowa	CNN and The Des Moines Register	6 candidates
Eighth Democratic primary debate	February 7, 2020	Manchester, New Hampshire	ABC, WMUR-TV, and Apple News	7 candidates
Ninth Democratic primary debate	February 19, 2020	Las Vegas, Nevada	NBC News and MSNBC	6 candidates
Tenth Democratic primary debate	February 25, 2020	Charleston, South Carolina	CBS News and Congressional Black Caucus Institute	7 candidates
Eleventh Democratic primary debate	March 15, 2020	Washington, D.C.	CNN, Univision, and CHC Bold	2 candidates

Debate participation

Yang participated in seven of the eight Democratic presidential primary debates that took place while he campaigned.

Campaign advertisements

This section shows a sampling of advertisements released to support or oppose this candidate in the 2020 presidential election.

"Our Kids" - Yang campaign, January 28, 2020

"Case" - Yang campaign, January 22, 2020

"Caregivers" - Yang campaign, December 23, 2019

"Greatest" - Yang campaign, December 23, 2019

"Rewrite" - Yang campaign, December 18, 2019

"Wait" - Yang campaign, December 12, 2019

"Who Is Andrew Yang?" - Yang campaign, December 12, 2019

"A New Way Forward" - Yang campaign, November 7, 2019

"Not the First" - Yang campaign, October 28, 2019

"The One to Bet On" - Yang campaign, June 26, 2019

"Andrew Yang is the Person We Need at Exactly the Time We Need It" - Yang campaign, June 7, 2019

"A Campaign of Ideas" - Yang campaign, January 8, 2019

"Humanity First" - Yang campaign, February 2, 2018

Policy positions

The following policy positions were compiled from the candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews.

Immigration

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "Immigrants have been a source of hard work and innovation for America over the centuries. Without a doubt, the melting pot of our country has led to the most dynamic, most creative, and most successful nation in the history of the world. It’s also necessary to recognize that, as a nation, we need to maintain control of our immigration system. The current system we have in place, when it works, does a great job of ensuring that highly skilled, hard-working, and invested immigrants can come to this country and integrate, becoming new Americans who contribute greatly to our society."

Yang's website lists the following immigration proposals: "Secure the southern border and drastically decrease the number of illegal entries into the US. Provide a new tier of long-term permanent residency for anyone who has been here illegally for a substantial amount of time so that they can come out of the shadows, enter the formal economy, and become full members of the community. Invest heavily in an information campaign to inform immigrant communities of this new tier of residency, and deport any undocumented immigrant who doesn’t proactively enroll in the program." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-28]}

Healthcare

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "We need to fix our broken healthcare system by tackling the root problems through a six-pronged approach: Control the cost of life-saving prescription drugs, through negotiating drug prices, using international reference pricing, forced licensing, public manufacturing facilities, and importation. Invest in technologies to finally make health services function efficiently and reduce waste by utilizing modernized services like telehealth and assistive technology, supported by measures such as multi-state licensing laws. Change the incentive structure by offering flexibility to providers, prioritizing patients over paperwork, and increasing the supply of practitioners. Shift our focus and educating ourselves in preventative care and end-of-life care options. Ensure crucial aspects of wellbeing, including mental health, care for people with disabilities, HIV/AIDs detection and treatment, reproductive health, maternal care, dental, and vision are addressed and integrated into comprehensive care for the 21st century. Diminish the influence of lobbyists and special interests in the healthcare industry that makes it nearly impossible to draft and pass meaningful healthcare reform." ^{[source, as of 2019-12-16]}

Energy and environmental issues

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and our way of life. It should be a top priority of the federal government to implement policies to control anthropogenic climate change while working with other governments to implement these policies throughout the world. It’s important to regulate fossil fuels, both to control climate change and to improve the health of the average American. Renewable energy must be invested in, not only as a means of moderating climate change but also to drive economic growth."

Yang's website lists the following proposals: "Invest heavily in carbon capture and geoengineering technologies designed to reverse the damage already done to the environment through a new Global Geoengineering Institute and invite international participation. Invest in any idea that has the potential to reverse the damage done to the environment, for example cloud-seeding technology to increase the atmosphere’s reflectivity. End the current tax benefits and cuts given to fossil fuel companies which give them an unwarranted competitive advantage over alternative energy sources. Institute a tax on emissions that will fund health care initiatives and research for respiratory diseases that are a direct result of these emissions. Empower and appoint an action-oriented leader of the EPA and direct the EPA to regulate carbon emissions. Direct the EPA to survey the states and private organizations to collate all programs designed to promote renewable energy adoption. Direct the EPA to coordinate with state and local governments to measure the impact of different policies on effecting positive impacts in the area of renewables adoption. Prioritize sustainable infrastructure and urban development to take advantage of new materials and designs." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-28]}

Trade

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "We need to ensure that our trade deals with other countries match our values and environmental goals. We need to renegotiate our trade deals that protect the fossil fuel industry. Instead, our trade deals need to ensure that any goods manufactured using unsustainable methods are appropriately costed, and the fossil fuel industries don’t get unwarranted power in the deals. As President, I will: Ensure that any trade negotiation includes stringent environmental standards. Ensure that any trade deal doesn’t include carve-outs or exclusives for oil, gas, or coal. Renegotiate any trade deal that includes carve-outs for fossil fuel industries, including the ISDS exceptions in NAFTA/USMCA." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Economy

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "We need to make the markets serve us rather than the other way around. Profit-seeking companies are organized to maximize their bottom line at every turn which will naturally lead to extreme policies and outcomes. We need government leaders who are truly laser-focused on the public interest above all else and will lead companies to act accordingly."

His website continues, "As president, I will implement the Freedom Dividend, providing Universal Basic Income of $1,000/month to all American adults over the age of 18 so that we may all share in the prosperity we have contributed to and participate in the new economy. Change the way we measure the economy, from GDP and the stock market to a more inclusive set of measurements that ensures humans are thriving, not barely making it by. Rein in corporate excesses by appointing regulators who are paid a lot of money – competitive with senior jobs in the private sector – but then will be prohibited from going to private industry afterward. The government’s goal should be to drive individuals and organizations to find new ways to improve the standards of living of individuals and families on these dimensions." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Education

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "The purpose of education should be to enable a citizen to live a good positive, socially productive life independent of work and further education. We need to make school more relevant to our young people by teaching them things they might actually use every day."

Yang's website lists the following education proposals: "Promote leaders in the Department of Education that promote life-skills education at least as much as higher education. Promote leaders in the DOE who envision trade skills as an educational path in secondary school. Increase funding to vocational programs within public schools. Direct the Dept. of Education to provide materials to all public schools about career paths that don’t require a college degree. Prioritize career paths that students express interest in rather than giving blanket advice that college is the right/only option. Begin a public education campaign championing vocational jobs and education. Work with states to fund their educational systems to improve teacher salaries and reduce layers of administration, leading to better educational outcomes. Direct the Department of Education to work with states to create a plan for universal pre-kindergarten education. Provide loan forgiveness for education majors who volunteer at places that provide pre-K education." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Gun regulation

Andrew Yang's website says, "Most Americans agree on common-sense safety requirements and restrictions on firearms. As President, I will support sensible regulation of guns that allows their continued enjoyment by responsible gun owners in a framework that promotes the overall public safety."

Yang's website lists the following proposals: "Close the gun show and Charleston loopholes, requiring all gun sales and most transfers to have a background check run and completed. Implement a purchase limit (rate, not total) on all firearms. Implement a federal cooling-off period to decrease the incidence of suicide and impulsive crime. Promote a stringent licensing system, with a 5-year renewal requirement, for gun ownership. Create a clear definition of “assault weapon”, and prevent their manufacture and sale. Renew a ban on Large Capacity Ammo Feeding Devices (LCAFDs) and after-market non-standard large capacity magazines. Pass a federal gun transportation law that will require people to transport guns unloaded and locked in a storage safe. Increase liability for individuals who sell guns illegally that are used to commit a crime. Form a commission to study the development of 3D printing technology to see ways we can minimize the risk of this technology in perpetuating gun violence. Maintain current restrictions on and definitions of automatic weaponry. Create federal safety guidelines for gun manufacture and distribution, similar to federal car safety requirements, with strict penalties for the violation of these guidelines. Invest in personalized gun technology that makes it difficult or impossible for someone other than a gun’s owner to fire it, and ensure that they’re for sale on the marketplace. Implement a federal buyback program for anyone who wants to voluntarily give up their firearm." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Criminal justice

Andrew Yang's website says, "Our rates of incarceration are 4 times higher than most other industrialized countries, and it’s a national disgrace. People on both sides of the aisle now recognize that our system is badly in need of reform. Our criminal justice system is particularly punitive toward blacks and other minorities. As President I will overhaul the treatment of drug offenses and reduce our rates of incarceration over time."

Yang's website lists the following proposals: "Work to end the use of private prison facilities for federal inmates. Shift drug policy away from punishment and towards treatment. Invest money to fund innovative prison programs that decrease recidivism and increase reintegration. Invest money to support businesses that hire felons who have served their prison term. Push to reconsider harsh felony laws that prevent those who have served their prison term from reintegrating into society. Identify non-violent drug offenders for probation and potential early release. Implement Universal Basic Income which will dramatically decrease incentives for criminality and improve the functioning of individuals and communities." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Foreign policy

Andrew Yang's website says, "My first principles concerning foreign policy are restraint and judgment - we should be very judicious about projecting force and have clear goals that we know we can accomplish. We should treat our men and women in the armed services as the brave and self-sacrificing leaders that they are, both during and after their deployments. If I send young men and women into harm’s way, they will know that vital national interests are at stake and there is a clear plan for them to achieve their goal in a reasonable time frame."

Yang's website lists the following proposals: "Work with our allies to rebuild our stature in the world, and strengthen alliances such as NATO. Reinvest in diplomacy and bolster funding to the State Department. Work with allies to project our combined strength throughout the world, without engaging in activities that will cost American lives and money with no clear benefit to our long-term well-being. Sign a repeal to the AUMF, returning the authority to declare war to Congress, and refuse to engage in anything other than emergency military activity without the express consent of Congress. Regularly audit the Department of Defense. Focus our federal budget on fixing problems at home instead of spending trillions of dollars abroad." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Impeachment

Andrew Yang tweeted, "Given the President’s latest actions I think impeachment is the right path forward. Asking foreign leaders for political help in return for aid and then suppressing your own agency’s inquiry is egregious. There have to be limits and Congress is right to act." ^{[source, as of 2019-09-24]}

Other policy positions

Click on any of the following links to read more policy positions from the 2020 presidential candidates.

Abortion

• 2020 presidential candidates on abortion

Criminal justice

• 2020 presidential candidates on criminal justice
• 2020 presidential candidates on policing

Economy

• 2020 presidential candidates on coronavirus recovery
• 2020 presidential candidates on the economy
• 2020 presidential candidates on Social Security
• 2020 presidential candidates on the minimum wage
• 2020 presidential candidates on paid leave
• 2020 presidential candidates on taxes

Education

• 2020 presidential candidates on education
• 2020 presidential candidates on student loan debt
• 2020 presidential candidates on charter schools and voucher programs

Energy and environmental issues

• 2020 presidential candidates on energy and environmental issues
• 2020 presidential candidates on climate change
• 2020 presidential candidates on the Green New Deal

Foreign policy

• 2020 presidential candidates on foreign policy
• 2020 presidential candidates on China
• 2020 presidential candidates on Russia
• 2020 presidential candidates on North Korea
• 2020 presidential candidates on the Middle East and North Africa
• 2020 presidential candidates on South and Central America

Gun regulation

• 2020 presidential candidates on gun regulation

Healthcare

• 2020 presidential candidates on healthcare
• 2020 presidential candidates on the Affordable Care Act
• 2020 presidential candidates on Medicare for All
• 2020 presidential candidates on prescription drugs costs

Immigration

• 2020 presidential candidates on immigration
• 2020 presidential candidates on border security
• 2020 presidential candidates on DACA and Dreamers
• 2020 presidential candidates on immigration enforcement

Impeachment

• 2020 presidential candidates on impeachment

Labor

• 2020 presidential candidates on labor policy
• 2020 presidential candidates on Janus v. AFSCME
• 2020 presidential candidates on public-sector unions
• 2020 presidential candidates on unionization and organization
• 2020 presidential candidates on the right to strike

Trade

• 2020 presidential candidates on trade
• 2020 presidential candidates on tariffs
• 2020 presidential candidates on NAFTA and USMCA

Campaign themes

The following campaign themes were published on Yang's campaign website:

“	THE FREEDOM DIVIDEND Andrew would implement a Universal Basic Income, ‘the Freedom Dividend,’ of $1,000/month, $12,000 a year for every American adult over the age of 18. This is independent of one’s work status or any other factor. This would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future. Any change to the Freedom Dividend would require a constitutional amendment. It will be illegal to lend or borrow against one’s Dividend. A Universal Basic Income at this level would permanently grow the economy by 12.56 to 13.10 percent—or about $2.5 trillion by 2025—and it would increase the labor force by 4.5 to 4.7 million people. Putting money into people’s hands and keeping it there would be a perpetual boost and support to job growth and the economy. PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED Approx. 40 million Americans live below the poverty line. Technology is quickly displacing a large number of workers, and the pace will only increase as automation and other forms of artificial intelligence become more advanced. ⅓ of American workers will lose their jobs to automation by 2030 according to McKinsey. This has the potential to destabilize our economy and society if unaddressed. Good jobs are becoming more and more scarce and Americans are already working harder and harder for less and less. It is necessary to support and preserve a robust consumer economy. Many Americans are stuck in the wrong jobs because of a need to survive. There are many positive social activities that are currently impossible for many to do because they lack the financial resources to dedicate time to it, including taking care of a child or sick loved one, and volunteering in the community. GOALS End poverty in the most direct manner possible: giving people money Move our economy into its next stage of development – human capitalism – with a focus on improving everyone’s quality of living Prevent the massive disruption that will accompany the rapid development and adoption of automation and other AI technologies Allow people the freedom to switch jobs, move, innovate, and contribute to society Turbo-charge the economy by providing income to those who are most likely to spend it As President, I will… Implement the Freedom Dividend, providing Universal Basic Income of $1,000/month to all American adults over the age of 18 so that we may all share in the prosperity we have contributed to and participate in the new economy. An Excerpt from The War on Normal People Universal Basic Income, or UBI, is a version of Social Security where all citizens receive a set amount of money per month independent of their work status or income. Everyone from a hedge fund billionaire in New York to an impoverished single mom in West Virginia would receive a monthly check of $1,000. If someone is working as a waitress or construction worker making $18,000, he or she would essentially be making $30,000. UBI eliminates the disincentive to work that most people find troubling about traditional welfare programs – if you work you could actually start saving and get ahead. With the growing threat of automation, the concept has gained renewed attention, with trials being run in Oakland, Canada, and Finland as well as in India and other parts of the developing world. Today, people tend to associate Universal Basic Income with technology utopians. But a form of UBI almost became law in the United States in 1970 and 1971, passing the House of Representatives twice before stalling in the Senate. Versions of the idea have been championed by robust thinkers of every political persuasion for decades, including some of the most admired figures in American life. MEDICARE FOR ALL Access to quality healthcare is one of the most important factors in overall well being, and yet America is one of the few industrialized nations not to provide healthcare for all of its citizens. Instead, we have a private healthcare system that leaves millions uninsured and bankrupts even some of those who do have health insurance. At the same time, our cost of care is higher than in almost any other industrialized country while providing worse outcomes. The Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction, providing funds to states to innovate while expanding Medicaid substantially. However, it didn’t address the fundamental issues plaguing our healthcare system: Access to medicine isn’t guaranteed to all citizens The incentives for healthcare providers don’t align with providing quality, efficient care This must change. Through a Medicare for All system, we can ensure that all Americans receive the healthcare they deserve. Not only will this raise the quality of life for all Americans, but, by increasing access to preventive care, it will bring overall healthcare costs down. With a shift to a Medicare for All system, costs can also be controlled directly by setting prices provided for medical services. The best approach is highlighted by the top-ranked Cleveland Clinic. There, doctors are paid a flat salary instead of by a price-for-service model. This shift has led to a hospital where costs are visible and under control. Redundant tests are at a minimum, and physician turnover is much lower than at comparable hospitals. Doctors also report being more involved with their patients. Since they’re salaried, there’s no need to churn through patient after patient. Instead, they can spend the proper amount of time to ensure that each patient receives their undivided attention and empathy. Outside of a shift to a Medicare for All system, we can look to the Southcentral Foundation for another important shift necessary in the way we treat patients: holistic approaches. At this treatment center for native Alaskans, mental and physical problems are both investigated, and, unsurprisingly, the two are often linked. By referring patients to psychologists during routine physicals, doctors are able to treat, for example, both the symptoms of obesity and the underlying mental health issue that often is related to the issue. The referral also leads people with issues they may otherwise try to bury – sexual abuse, addictions, or domestic violence issues – to bring them up with a doctor so that they can be addressed. By providing holistic healthcare to all our citizens, we’ll drastically increase the average quality of life, extend life expectancy, and treat issues that often go untreated. We’ll also be able to bring costs under control and outcomes up, as most other industrialized nations have. Finally, being tied to an employer so that you don’t lose your healthcare prevents economic mobility. It’s important that people feel free to seek out new opportunities, and our current employee-provided healthcare system prevents that. PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED Millions of Americans live without healthcare. Even those with healthcare are often bankrupted by healthcare costs. Many Americans who have healthcare have policies that don’t afford them the opportunity to receive proper care. Healthcare costs in this country are relatively high, and outcomes are relatively poor. Doctors are incentivized to act as factory workers, churning through patients and prescribing redundant tests, rather than doing what they’d prefer—spending extra time with each patient to ensure overall health. Many health issues fall through the cracks because doctors rely on patients to bring up issues rather than treating each one holistically. Employees are tied to their employers because they receive the healthcare benefits through them. GOALS Holistic healthcare for all Americans Bend the cost curve of healthcare down Focus on preventive and holistic care Change the incentive structure for doctors Allow doctors and hospitals to innovate in treatment As President, I will… Work with Congress to create a Medicare for All system to provide healthcare to all Americans. Shift the way doctors are compensated to promote holistic and empathic care. Create incentives for and invest in innovative treatment methods and methodologies. An Excerpt from The War on Normal People As jobs disappear and temporary employment becomes more prevalent, reforming our health care system will be more and more crucial. Right now, most of us rely upon our employers to pay for and provide health insurance. This will be increasingly difficult to sustain as jobs with benefits become harder and harder to come by. On the consumer side, spiraling health care costs have already become a crushing burden for Americans. Health care bills were the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in 2013 and a study that year found that 56 million Americans – over 20% of the adult population – struggled with health care expenses they couldn’t afford to pay. We’ve all seen and heard the horror stories of people coming back from the hospital with a bill for tens of thousands of dollars. For many Americans it’s a double whammy if you get sick – you not only have to deal with the illness or injury but you have to figure out how to pay for treatment. In general, the use of technology has not transformed health care the way that optimists would hope. Health care costs have continued to climb to a record 17.8% of the economy in 2016, up from 11.4% in 1989 and less than 6% in 1960. We spend about twice what other industrialized countries do on health care per capita to lesser results. According to a 2014 Commonwealth Fund report, we are last among major industrialized nations in efficiency, equity and health outcomes attributable to medical care despite spending much more than anyone else. Another study had the U.S. last among developed countries in basic measurements like the rate of women dying due to pregnancy or childbirth and rate of survival to age 5. To the extent that new technology is used, it tends to be expensive new devices and implants that drive costs ever higher. The basic practice of medicine, as well as the training, is the same as it’s been for decades. Our job-based health insurance system does the very thing we most want to avoid – it discourages businesses from hiring. For employers, company-subsidized health insurance costs are a major impediment to hiring and growth. The costs get very high for senior people with families – my last company was spending more than $2,500 a month on certain people’s insurance plans. If these costs weren’t on our books we definitely would have hired more people. Health insurance also pushes companies to make as many employees as possible into part-time gig workers or contractors. On the worker side, tons of people hang on to jobs that they do not want to be in just for the health insurance. Economists refer to this as “job lock;” it makes the labor market much less dynamic, which is bad in particular for young workers. As jobs disappear, having one’s health care linked to employment will become increasingly untenable. The need for a different approach is growing. Health care is not truly subject to market dynamics for a host of reasons. In a normal marketplace, companies compete for your business by presenting different value propositions and you make an informed choice. With health care, you typically only have a few options. You have no idea what the real differences are between different providers and doctors. Costs are high and extremely unpredictable, making it hard to budget for them. The complexity leaves many Americans overwhelmed and highly suggestible to experts or institutions. When you actually do get sick or injured, you become cost-insensitive trying to get well. Hospitals often employ opaque pricing, resulting in patient uncertainty over what their insurance will actually cover. Moreover, when you’re ill, it’s possible your faculties can be impaired because of illness, emotional distress or even unconsciousness. As Steven Brill wrote in his seminal Time magazine article on health care costs, “Unless you are protected by Medicare, the health care market is not a market at all. It’s a crapshoot.” The lack of real market discipline or cost control incentives has driven costs ever higher. Technology that should decrease costs has been kept at the door because for most actors in the system, the goal is to increase revenue and profitability. The more services, tests, appointments, procedures and expensive gadgets you use, the better. The system rewards activity and output over health improvements and outcomes. Changing these incentives is key. HUMAN-CENTERED CAPITALISM Capitalism as an economic system has led to unparalleled innovation and improvement in the human condition. Many consider it to have “won” the war of ideas against socialism, but that simplistic view ignores that there is no such thing as a pure Capitalist system. And our current version of institutional capitalism and corporatism is a relatively recent development. Our current emphasis on corporate profits isn’t working for the vast majority of Americans. This will only be made worse by the development of automation technology and AI. We need to move to a new form of capitalism – Human Capitalism – that’s geared towards maximizing human well-being and fulfillment. The central tenets of Human Capitalism are: Humans are more important than money The unit of a Human Capitalism economy is each person, not each dollar Markets exist to serve our common goals and values The focus of our economy should be to maximize human welfare. Sometimes this aligns with a purely capitalist approach, where different entities compete for the best ideas. But there are plenty of times when a capitalist system leads to suboptimal outcomes. Think of an airline refusing to honor your ticket because they can get more money from a customer who purchases last-minute, or a pharmaceutical company charging extortionate rates for a life-saving drug because the customers are desperate. PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED At present, the Market systematically tends to undervalue many things, activities, and people, many of which are core to the human experience. GOALS Make the economy work for Americans, not the other way around Direct capital to investments to improve human welfare, not to enrich the wealthiest Americans Create measurements around people, not dollars As President, I will… Change the way we measure the economy, from GDP and the stock market to a more inclusive set of measurements that ensures humans are thriving, not barely making it by. New measurements like Median Income and Standard of Living, Health-adjusted Life Expectancy, Mental Health, Childhood Success Rates, Social and Economic Mobility, Absence of Substance Abuse, and other measurements will give us a much clearer and more powerful sense of how we are doing both individually and as a society. Rein in corporate excesses by appointing regulators who are paid a lot of money – competitive with senior jobs in the private sector – but then will be prohibited from going to private industry afterward. Regulators need to be focused on making the right decisions and policies for the public with zero concern for their next position. The government’s goal should be to drive individuals and organizations to find new ways to improve the standards of living of individuals and families on these dimensions. In order to spur development, the government should issue a new currency – the Digital Social Credit – which can be converted into dollars and used to reward people and organizations who drive significant social value. This new currency would allow people to measure the amount of good that they have done through various programs and actions. An Excerpt from The War on Normal People Imagine an AI life coach with the voice of Oprah or Tom Hanks trying to help parents stay together or raise kids. Or a new Legion of Builders and Demolishers that install millions of solar panels across the country, upgrade our infrastructure and remove derelict buildings while also employing tens of thousands of workers. Or a digital personalized education subscription that is constantly giving you new material and grouping you with a few other people who are studying the same thing. Or a wearable device that monitors your vital signs and sends data to your doctor while recommending occasional behavior changes. Or voting securely in your local elections via your smartphone without any worry of fraud. Each of these scenarios is possible right now with current technology. But the resources and market incentives for them do not exist. There is limited or no market reward at present for keeping families together or upgrading infrastructure or lifelong education or preventative care or improving democracy. While our smartphones get smarter each season propelled by tens of billions of dollars, our voting machines, bridges, and schools languish in the 1960s. This is what we must change. At present, the Market systematically tends to undervalue many things, activities, and people, many of which are core to the human experience. Consider: Parenting or caring for loved ones Teaching or nurturing children Arts and creativity Serving the poor Working in struggling regions or environments The Environment Reading Preventative care Character Infrastructure and Public transportation Journalism Women People of color / underrepresented minorities And now, increasingly, Unskilled Labor and Normal People Meaningful Community Connections Small Independent Businesses Effective Government There were periods when the Market supported some of these things more than it does today. Today, it needs to be steered to do so. The U.S. has reached a point where its current form of capitalism is faltering in producing an increasing standard of living for the majority of its citizens. It’s time for an upgrade. The Next Stage of Capitalism Adam Smith, the Scottish Economist who wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776, is often regarded as the father of modern Capitalism. His ideas of the Invisible Hand that guides the market, division of labor, and that self-interest and competition lead to wealth creation have been so deeply internalized that today we take most of them for granted. Our general thinking today is to contrast ‘Capitalism’ with ‘Socialism,’ which arose in the 1800s and advocated social ownership or democratic control of industries. Karl Marx published Das Kapital in 1867 and argued that capitalism contained internal tensions that would oppress the working class who would eventually rise up and take control. Our perception is that Capitalism – embodied by the West and the United States – won the war of ideas by generating immense growth and wealth and elevating the standard of living of billions of people. Socialism – represented by the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991 and China which moderated its approach in the 1980s – didn’t work in practice and was thoroughly discredited. This simplistic assessment misses a couple important points. First, there is no such thing as a pure Capitalist system. There have been many different forms of Western capitalist economies going back centuries ever since money was invented around seven thousand years ago. The market feudalism of the Middle Ages evolved into the expansionist Mercantilism of European trading companies, which evolved into the Industrial Capitalism of 20th century America, and into the Welfare Capitalism of the 1960s when the U.S. and many other advanced countries established safety net programs like Social Security and Medicaid. Our current form of institutional capitalism and corporatism is just the latest of many different versions. Similarly, there are many forms of capitalism in service around the world right now. Singapore is the 4th richest country in the world in terms of per capita GDP. It has had an unemployment rate of 2.2% or lower since 2009 and is regarded as one of the most free and open, pro-business economies in the world. Yet the government in Singapore regularly shapes investment policy and government-linked firms dominate telecommunications, finance, and media in ways that would be unthinkable in the U.S. Singapore’s system of capitalism is very different than Norway’s and Japan’s and Canada’s and ours. Many countries’ form of capitalism is steered not by an unseen hand, but by clear government policy. Now imagine a new type of capitalist economy that is geared toward maximizing human well-being and fulfillment. These goals and GDP would sometimes go hand-in-hand. But there would be times when they wouldn’t be aligned. For example, an airline removing passengers who had already boarded a plane to maximize its profitability would be good for capital but bad for people. So would a drug company charging extortionate rates for a life-saving drug. Most Americans would agree that the airline should simply accept the lost revenue and the drug company should accept a moderate profit margin. What if this idea was repeated over and over again throughout the economy? Call it Human-centered Capitalism, or Human Capitalism for short. Human Capitalism has a few core tenets: Humanity is More Important Than Money The Unit of an Economy is each Person, not each Dollar Markets Exist to Serve Our Common Goals and Values There’s a saying in business that “what gets measured gets managed for.” We need to start measuring different things. The concept of GDP and economic progress didn’t even exist until the Great Depression. It was invented so that the government could figure out how bad the economy was getting and how to make it better. Economist Simon Kuznets, upon introducing GDP to Congress in 1934 remarked that “Economic welfare cannot be adequately measured unless the personal distribution of income is known. And no income measurement undertakes to estimate the reverse side of income, that is, the intensity and unpleasantness of effort going into the earning of income. The welfare of a nation can, therefore, scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income as defined above.” It’s almost like he saw income inequality and bad jobs coming. Our economic system must shift to focus on bettering the lot of the average person. Capitalism has to be made to serve human ends and goals, rather than have our humanity subverted to serve the Marketplace. We shape the system. We own it, not the other way around. In addition to GDP and job statistics, the government should adopt measurements like: Median Income and Standard of Living Levels of engagement with Work and Labor Participation Rate Health-adjusted life expectancy Childhood Success Rates Infant mortality Surveys of National Well-being Average Physical Fitness and Mental Health Quality of Infrastructure Proportion of Elderly in Quality Care Human Capital Development and Access to Education Marriage Rates and Success Deaths of Despair / Despair Index / Substance Abuse National Optimism / Mindset of Abundance Community Integrity and Social Capital Environmental Quality Global Temperature Variance and Sea Levels Re-acclimation of Incarcerated Individuals and Rates of Criminality Artistic and Cultural Vibrancy Design and Aesthetics Information Integrity / Journalism Dynamism and Mobility Social and Economic Equity Public Safety Civic Engagement Cybersecurity Economic Competitiveness and Growth Responsiveness and Evolution of Government Efficient Use of Resources It would be straightforward to establish measurements for each of these and have them updated periodically, similar to what Steve Ballmer set up at USAFacts.org. Everyone could then see how we’re doing and be galvanized around improvement. Human Capitalism will reshape the way that we measure value and progress, and help us redefine why we do what we do. It’s time to build an economy that makes people’s lives better. The market must serve us, not the other way around.	”
—Yang 2020

The following individual policy pages were listed on Yang's website as of August 29, 2019:

• The Freedom Dividend
• Improve the American Scorecard
• Data as a Property Right
• Reduce Mass Incarceration
• Right to Privacy/Abortion and Contraception
• The Penny Makes No Cents
• Automatic Voter Registration
• Carbon Fee and Dividend
• Decrease Pre-Trial Cash Bail
• Decriminalize Opioids
• Early Childhood Education for All
• End Partisan Gerrymandering
• Fight for Equal Pay
• File Income Taxes
• Free Financial Counseling for All
• Grid Modernization Race to the Top
• Gun Safety
• Head of Culture and Ceremony
• Hold Pharmaceutical Companies Accountable
• Implement Mandatory Paid Leave Policy
• Increase Assistance for Single Parents
• Legalize Marijuana
• Lower the Voting Age to 16
• Make Election Day a Holiday
• Make Puerto Rico a State
• Make Washington, DC, a State
• Making Taxes Fun
• Paid Family Leave
• Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants
• Promote Vocational Education
• Prosperity Grants
• Public Council of Advisors
• Reduce Student Loan Burden
• Regulate AI and other Emerging Technologies
• Restoration of Voting Rights
• Southern Border Security
• Support for the Arts
• Support the DREAM Act
• Tort Reform/Reasonableness Dismissals
• Zoning
• 12-Year Congressional Term Limits
• 18 Year Term Limit for Supreme Court Justices
• Algorithmic Trading/Fraud
• American Exchange Program
• American Journalism Fellows
• American Mall Act
• Automatically Sunset Old Laws
• Campaign Finance Reform
• Capital Gain/Carried Interest Tax
• Closely Monitor Mental Health of White House Staff
• Combat Climate Change
• Control the Cost of Higher Education
• Control the Cost of Prescription Drugs
• Controlled Substance Waivers for Veterans
• Crypto/Digital Asset Regulation and Consumer Protection
• Democracy Dollars
• Ease the Transition to Self-Driving Vehicles
• Economic Crime
• Empowering MMA Fighters
• End Bidding Wars for Corporate Relocation
• Ending Veteran Suicide
• Entice High-Skill Individuals
• Every Cop Gets a Camera
• Every Vet Under a Roof Initiative
• Expand Access to Medical Experts
• Expand Selective Schools
• Extend Daylight Saving Time All Year
• Fighting the Rise of White Nationalism and Extremism
• Financial Transaction Tax
• Foreign Policy First Principles
• Free Marriage Counseling for All
• Fund Autism Intervention
• Fund Medical Technology Innovation
• GI Bill Improvements
• Human-Centered Capitalism
• Improving Veteran Health
• Increase Teacher Salaries
• Invest in America’s Mental Health
• Life-Skills Education in All High Schools
• Limit Bureaucracy in the Federal Workforce
• Local Journalism Fund
• Make Community College Affordable for All
• Make it Easier to Save for Retirement
• Make it Easy for Americans to Move for Work
• Media Fragmentation
• Medicare for All
• Military Training: The Gold Standard
• Modern Time Banking
• Modernize Military Spending
• Modernize Voting
• NCAA Should Pay Athletes
• Net Neutrality
• Nuclear Energy
• Nuclear Launch Decisions
• Opioid Crisis
• Preservation of Public Lands and Water
• Prevent Airlines from Removing Customers
• Prevent Corruption in the Federal Government
• Proportional Selection of Electors
• Provide Basic Banking Services through the Post Office
• Quantum Computing and Encryption Standards
• Ranked Choice Voting
• Rebuild American Infrastructure
• Reduce Harm to Children Caused by Smartphones
• Reduce Packaging Waste
• Reduce Wildfires
• Relocate Federal Agencies
• Reverse Boot Camp
• Revive the Office of Technology Assessment
• Robo-Calling Text Line
• Support the Revival of Earmarks
• Timing of Payments for Small Businesses
• Value-Added Tax

Yang participated in an interview series with The New York Times that asked 21 Democratic candidates the same series of 18 questions. To view Yang's responses, click here.

Archive of Political Emails

The Archive of Political Emails was founded in July 2019 to compile political fundraising and advocacy emails sent by candidates, elected officials, PACs, nonprofits, NGOs, and other political actors. The archive includes screenshots and searchable text from emails sent by 2020 presidential candidates. To review the Yang campaign's emails, click here.

Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

See also: Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

The following section provides a timeline of Yang's campaign activity beginning in January 2019. The entries, which come from Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing, are sorted by month in reverse chronological order.

See also

• Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
• Presidential candidates, 2020
• Presidential election endorsements, 2020
• PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election
• Presidential candidate campaign travel, 2020
• Democratic presidential primary debates, 2020