No Blank Check for Delay: ICESCR Article 2 and the Progressive Realization Standard
ICESCR Article 2 obliges states to move toward full realization of economic and social rights using their maximum available resources — and to do so without discrimination. For the United States, the world's largest economy, the maximum-resources standard carries real weight. When AI drives large-scale economic displacement, Article 2's retrogression doctrine — established in CESCR General Comment 3 — sets a floor: deliberate backward steps in economic rights protection carry a presumption of violation that the state must actively rebut. The U.S. has never ratified.