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One of the most voiced benefits of the increased automation and efficiency through the industrial revolution (and the technological advancements today) was that

One of the most voiced benefits of the increased automation and efficiency through the industrial revolution (and the technological advancements today) was that we'll generate more value/goods/etc. with less human work, therefore everyone's prosperity will increase. For example, a farm that would require 20 people will require 5 with machines. We did get the increase in production efficiency but that newly-generated value was never passed on to those who did the actual work (all the way from farmers and factory works to most white collar jobs). It was captured and collected by those at the top. So now, everyone's afraid of "losing their jobs to machines" and somewhat rightly so. Instead of building machines to do our bidding while we live like royalty, we still have insane amounts of poverty despite the world generating more products/food/value than ever before in human history, with people losing their jobs and getting nothing in return.

kube-system 5y ago
Because the market for agriculture is competitive, the value was passed down to consumers in the form of cheaper food. Before industrialized agriculture, it was normal for food to be the largest chunk of a household's budget. It's likely also a leading cause of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#/media/File:World-population-1750-2015-and-un-projection-until-2100.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#/media/File:W...
skybrian 5y ago
I think you've misunderstood the economics. In the presence of competition, productivity improvements result in lower prices.
loceng 5y ago
Hence why we need UBI tied to inflation and paid for with VAT - perhaps partly or fully, potentially eliminate income tax to not penalize working.
- visarga 5y ago
  What would happen if instead of collecting tax for UBI the central bank would issue new currency? Prices would keep on raising forever, but from time to time we could cut a few zeros. The ones who hold onto cash would see their money slowly losing value, better use it or lose it. This system would be easier to implement.
  - unilynx 5y ago
    It’s called hyperinflation and never ended well
  - lebuffon 5y ago
    That is what what we do now. Controlled inflation by central banks is really controlled reduction of the value of the currency. ~2% per year is the target. The USA gets a free pass at the moment because USD is "the" reserve currency. If/when that changes we might get a lesson in hyper-inflation. :( That's why the wealthy don't hold much cash. (unless they see a crash coming)
visarga 5y ago
Innovators making profits - this is the premium we have to pay for exploration. On the other hand, if we rejected exploration everyone would be worse off. Just take a look at innovation in communist regimes.

kube-system 5y ago

Because the market for agriculture is competitive, the value was passed down to consumers in the form of cheaper food. Before industrialized agriculture, it was normal for food to be the largest chunk of a household's budget. It's likely also a leading cause of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#/media/File:World-population-1750-2015-and-un-projection-until-2100.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#/media/File:W...

skybrian 5y ago

I think you've misunderstood the economics. In the presence of competition, productivity improvements result in lower prices.

loceng 5y ago

Hence why we need UBI tied to inflation and paid for with VAT - perhaps partly or fully, potentially eliminate income tax to not penalize working.

visarga 5y ago
What would happen if instead of collecting tax for UBI the central bank would issue new currency? Prices would keep on raising forever, but from time to time we could cut a few zeros. The ones who hold onto cash would see their money slowly losing value, better use it or lose it. This system would be easier to implement.
- unilynx 5y ago
  It’s called hyperinflation and never ended well
- lebuffon 5y ago
  That is what what we do now. Controlled inflation by central banks is really controlled reduction of the value of the currency. ~2% per year is the target. The USA gets a free pass at the moment because USD is "the" reserve currency. If/when that changes we might get a lesson in hyper-inflation. :( That's why the wealthy don't hold much cash. (unless they see a crash coming)

visarga 5y ago

Innovators making profits - this is the premium we have to pay for exploration. On the other hand, if we rejected exploration everyone would be worse off. Just take a look at innovation in communist regimes.