Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur, said in announcing his campaign that new technology will eliminate millions of working-class American jobs and says, “We need to invent a whole new economic system.”

Accomplishments: A graduate of the Columbia law school, Yang quit his job at a big law firm and began to work in the tech industry. He helped to build a test-prep business that was bought by Kaplan in 2009 and later started the nonprofit organization Venture for America that connects recent college graduates with start-up businesses.

Foreign policy: Yang says on his campaign website, “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.” He says America is involved in too many foreign issues at too great a cost.

What sets him apart: Yang is one of the few candidates vying for the Democratic nomination who is not a politician. The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Yang is not well-known nationally and admits he has a long-shot chance to win the nomination, but says he is running in the hope that his ideas will gain traction.

Platform: Yang supports a form of universal basic income as a way to reduce inequality. He believes that automation and advanced artificial intelligence will soon make millions of jobs obsolete and argues that America must take steps to prevent what he predicts could be massive levels of unemployment. He advocates giving citizens ages 18-64 $1,000 per month regardless of income or employment status, and paying for it by taxing companies who profit from automation.