Re:Should economists be more concerned about AI?
by phkahler on Thursday March 02, 2017 @09:03AM
(#13774024)
Exactly; the economy is not zero-sum; it's not a pie we have to split.
Yes it is. The amount of consumption (goods and services) a given person can indulge in has an upper limit. In the past, people who were freed from some tasks were simply reallocated to others and more stuff was produced which there was demand for.
Re:Should economists be more concerned about AI?
by hackuser on Thursday March 02, 2017 @04:37PM
(#13778471)
> The amount of consumption (goods and services) a given person can indulge in has an upper limit
Why? What is the limit? The amount can grow, and the evidence that it does is overwhelming.
> In the past, people who were freed from some tasks were simply reallocated to others and more stuff was produced which there was demand for.
Why would that only be 'in the past' and not today and tomorrow?
For example, in the U.S. starting from 1917, the great majority of jobs have disappeared, the population (and thus the workforce) has tripled, and yet unemployment is less than 5%.
If you find a way to do something more efficiently, then that creates more wealth for buying things from the former employee's next job. (The problem, not to be overlooked, is that while the economy as a whole benefits, individuals can suffer greatly.)