Two recent studies from the Pew Research Center confirm what many in the U.S. have long suspected: The great economic engine of America — the middle class — is in full retreat, with its children stuck living at home.

As we look for answers, it’s become clear that there are none to be found in the boorish 2016 presidential campaign. What we hear are government solutions that are too expensive (free tuition), too fanciful (a big wall) or too much Uncle Sam (single-payer health care). While liberals and conservatives bicker, the middle class burns. They want their jobs back, along with the security that comes with them.

But those jobs aren’t coming back. Not because we can’t build a wall or levy a huge tariff on imports. No, the jobs aren’t coming back because automation, machine learning and robotics are fundamentally changing the nature and future of work.

So what might we do to revive the middle class?

There’s increasing support here and in Europe for the universal basic income movement, which promises citizens a guaranteed annual revenue. Though usually the domain of Marxists, libertarians and Alaskans, the idea of basic income is gaining support from a collection of surprising bedfellows in the tech industry. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes recently joined innovators Marc Andreessen, Sam Altman and Albert Wenger in supporting the concept. The reason? They see a future economy that needs fewer workers and feel an obligation to handle the human fallout.

Altman, in particular, is exploring the nuts and bolts of this idea, launching a short-term pilot project in Oakland. But he faces one notable critique: Universal basic income would be prohibitively expensive. Still, it’s an idea worth studying, especially when considering the consequences of a dying middle class.

As Silicon Valley luminaries explore whether and how to scale this idea, they ought to look to a traditional angel investor to underwrite their efforts: foundations and their nearly $1 trillion in assets.

Tech titans could persuade foundation elites to double their current grant making of $55 billion and commit to 10 years of funding. With this new pool of resources, they could invest $12,000 annually in nearly 4.5 million middle-class and poor Americans. (Should they need more funding, they might ask fellow Silicon Valley innovators to levy a data-mining royalty on their operations.)

After 10 years of beta testing — and without a dime of new taxes or government intervention — private industry and civil society will have created a wealth of data that could answer basic questions about universal basic income. For instance, what were the characteristics of people who used their money to innovate and be entrepreneurial?

Conversely, who instead bought an Oculus Rift virtual reality system and ran up their marijuana bill? What explains the difference? Fundamentally, our country’s private sector could help find a solution for the collapse of the middle class.

No doubt, Silicon Valley would probably encounter notable headwinds from many philanthropic organizations. And yet, the true philanthropic innovators may well embrace an idea whose time has come for national study. After all, this beta test would profoundly help the very people whom foundations are created to assist — the middle class and the poor.

This article originally appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle. Bryan Dean Wright is a former CIA covert ops officer who lives in Oregon. Follow him on Twitter: BryanDeanWright