The future of the Economy?

It's kind of vague. I think that ~1% annual GDP per capita growth will continue. After 100 years that will make society look a lot different. On the other hand I do not believe that we are about to see anything unprecedented in terms of growth; society of 100 years ago looked a lot different to our current society too.


I don't think it will, because peoples' definition of what constitutes food and shelter will just increase, or more things will be added to that bundle of "necessities".

Basic JSA is greater than the per capita GDP of some countries and of this country in 1800. In that sense, you don't need to work today to have food and shelter. But what has happened is that JSA has come to be considered unliveably meagre, rather than that work has come to be considered superfluous.

The per capita production of the country will continue to be well below what people considered "more money than I care about" for centuries.

This is silly, those countries have much lower cost of living.

They have a much lower standard of living. A B&Q shed costs only 200GBP or so and is better than a lot of the accommodation in sub-Saharan Africa.

Automation is an ancient trend and it doesn't correlate with increased unemployment. People are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

You're still thinking about this the wrong way.


"People in other countries have tougher lives, so we shouldn't help the poor in this country"


It's a pathetic shaming tactic the Tory right uses to shut down debate.

That has nothing whatsoever to do with what you or I have said.

What you have said is that productivity is now high enough that people could survive without working nearly as much as they do. This is true, but people prefer to work more and use the money to buy comfort. People rather work 40 hour/45 years and have a big house than 10 hour/20 year and live in a shed.

Right now this is true, but within 10-20 years this won't be true, in India there is the £5 smartphone, when 3d printing goes ahead, people will be able to create their own luxuries.

and again you're missing the big point which is that the work won't exist when creation is fully automated.

I don't think it is true. I think GDP per capita will continue to grow by about 1% per year. 3D printing might radically reduce costs in manufacturing goods - it also may not - but it won't bring back Moore's law. Things tend to average out. 20 years of compound 1% growth gives you a pay rise of 22% for the same work. Not bad at all, but not life changing.

btw, if you disagree, we could always bet. If you are right, money will be pretty cheap in the future, so you're not really risking anything.

I don't care, I have my shitty Bitcoin money which I sold out for.

Why should we need to if machines can do the jobs?

If machines can work 24/7 better than a human for zero pay, rather than making humans work for the sake of it, it would surely make sense to allow technology to advance and give every human a basic income.

If machines become smarter than us... can you really trust them not to turn on us?

It only takes one glitch or oversight in the programming

Much has been made recently of the coming robotic revolution. Every sector will see some form of automation, from retail to medicine and the legal profession. This raises some issues, chief among them employment. Unlike previous changes, like the industrial revolution, this will be unlikely to see a transition of jobs from one area to another, some lost out but more people gaining something. We are far more likely to see large numbers of people become unemployed, with little scope for them to move elsewhere. Alongside this, the same revolution will drive down costs, making living generally cheaper. Which brings into play the possible solution to this problem, constant welfare.

Are we going to have to accept a permanent welfare state, where large numbers of people are simply expected to live off welfare? Or would we see a system like Saudi Arabia, where the state simply creates large numbers of non-jobs and an expanded civil service to give citizens some sense of purposes. Or finally, and most optimistically, will we simply see another large transition from one sector to another of jobs? Will many people find a way to remain in well paid purposeful jobs?

Thoughts?

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I think most of the posts in this thread fail to understand human motivations. It is my belief that we have a natural drive to seek struggle. It may not be as pronounced as the sex drive, but it is every bit as primal. The pursuit of food and shelter fulfilled that need for our ancestors. It still does for many in undeveloped societies. Our reality has evolved however. Development of industry and advances in agriculture have enabled us to master our environment to an extent that actual survival is seldom in jeopardy. So we seek substitutes. Sport is a simplified and abbreviated attempt to simulate struggle. Our lives assume a more prolonged and complex version. We no longer hunt for food and shelter so we work for status and privilege. What remains the same is the perpetual desire to improve our circumstances.

Modern society is on the verge of evolving to a point where traditional work as we understand it becoming obsolete. Thinking that our species can thrive in a technological paradise that caters to our every need without any ability to distinguish ourselves amongst our peers is a fallacy. Our experience is judged relative to those around us. That is how we judge failure and success. We surpassed true poverty so we replaced it with relative poverty. Does it not stand to reason that wealth means little unless it is relative wealth? Life without that experience is as unfulfilling as life without sex.

My theory: Just as technology such as automation, drones, and AI will do more of our work for us, technology such as VR, social media, cloud computing, live streaming, and online gaming will fuse into a new virtual universe. As humans become less relevant to the physical world they will retreat to the virtual one. We will continue to seek validation and fulfillment through recognition. Material items of the physical world will lose their value and reputations of virtual avatars will become precious. The ability to be interesting, provocative, and entertaining will will become the new must have skills. Combine today’s youtube stars, internet bloggers, and reality tv stars, then give them a virtual platform with few limitations. That will become what we aspire to.

My theory: Just as technology such as automation, drones, and AI will do more of our work for us, technology such as VR, social media, cloud computing, live streaming, and online gaming will fuse into a new virtual universe. As humans become less relevant to the physical world they will retreat to the virtual one. We will continue to seek validation and fulfillment through recognition. Material items of the physical world will lose their value and reputations of virtual avatars will become precious. The ability to be interesting, provocative, and entertaining will will become the new must have skills. Combine today’s youtube stars, internet bloggers, and reality tv stars, then give them a virtual platform with few limitations. That will become what we aspire to.

Much has been made recently of the coming robotic revolution. Every sector will see some form of automation, from retail to medicine and the legal profession. This raises some issues, chief among them employment. Unlike previous changes, like the industrial revolution, this will be unlikely to see a transition of jobs from one area to another, some lost out but more people gaining something. We are far more likely to see large numbers of people become unemployed, with little scope for them to move elsewhere. Alongside this, the same revolution will drive down costs, making living generally cheaper. Which brings into play the possible solution to this problem, constant welfare.

Are we going to have to accept a permanent welfare state, where large numbers of people are simply expected to live off welfare? Or would we see a system like Saudi Arabia, where the state simply creates large numbers of non-jobs and an expanded civil service to give citizens some sense of purposes. Or finally, and most optimistically, will we simply see another large transition from one sector to another of jobs? Will many people find a way to remain in well paid purposeful jobs?

Thoughts?