So the irony is that as productivity is predicted to soar--so much so that it will take much less labor to create more goods--we will claim that we have to cut benefits for much of the population in the face of increased abundance? Of course, we seem to be talking mostly about the private goods, at a time when we have major issues with infrastructure, education, health care, and the like. Maintaining or expanding those programs would provide a significant number of jobs, and maintaining income levels for the retired population would facilitate a significant transfer of wealth to the younger generation in the form of jobs. We should stand back from this and ask ourselves why it is that somehow we have decided to ignore the extent to which these kinds of changes are also a function of network externalities and infrastructure. (The military started the internet and government groups had major roles: there's that d**ned government again, right? The same government that built the interstates and established public health standards?) Why would we assume that all the rents from those private productivity gains should be captured by an ever-smaller group? Time for more fiscal stimulus. Our problem is not a lack of saving. It's a lack of broad-based purchasing power. And the very forecasts that predict rapid cheapening via machines of a variety of goods and services tell us why this should not lead to inflation: our problem has been too much deflationary pressure.
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Stagnant Wages: Americans Can’t Or Won’t Compete?
So the irony is that as productivity is predicted to soar--so much so that it will take much less labor to create more goods--we will claim that we have to cut benefits for much of the population in the face of increased abundance? Of course, we seem to be talking mostly about the private goods, at a time when we have major issues with infrastructure, education, health care, and the like. Maintaining or expanding those programs would provide a significant number of jobs, and maintaining income levels for the retired population would facilitate a significant transfer of wealth to the younger generation in the form of jobs. We should stand back from this and ask ourselves why it is that somehow we have decided to ignore the extent to which these kinds of changes are also a function of network externalities and infrastructure. (The military started the internet and government groups had major roles: there's that d**ned government again, right? The same government that built the interstates and established public health standards?) Why would we assume that all the rents from those private productivity gains should be captured by an ever-smaller group? Time for more fiscal stimulus. Our problem is not a lack of saving. It's a lack of broad-based purchasing power. And the very forecasts that predict rapid cheapening via machines of a variety of goods and services tell us why this should not lead to inflation: our problem has been too much deflationary pressure.