Business Insider GOP primary debate: on Technology

Joe Walsh: Retrain workers displaced by automation

Walsh: I believe in American ingenuity and American innovation. You're not stopping automation, and it is a good thing. It's making the American economy more efficient. Our manufacturing sector is actually a hell of a lot more productive now with fewer workers. So what does government need to do? Help retrain those workers. Because you can't stop the market. You've got to keep the market changing. It'll lead to good things. But government's got to play a role as the American economy goes through these seminal moments where we move from one industry to another.

Q: Can the states take care of it?

Walsh: States can take care of it but the federal government's got to play a role here too. This is a major transformation in our economy. The federal government along with state governments have got to devote resources to train all of these displaced workers.