| We're just living with the consequences and are used to them. The result is inflation. Before new waves of immigrants and women joined the workforce, a single salary had more purchasing power. The effects are offset by certain goods becoming cheaper because of increased production. But other goods require two salaries when they previously required one. And people don't have savings, they have credit which makes up most of the purchasing power, trading it off for indentured servitude. Salaries have not kept up with profits since the 1970's, but if they did there could just be inflation, not an increase in purchasing power and economic independence. Current regional salary bubbles around Silicon Valley and NYC cause regional inflation, particularly in housing. Its supply is limited by laws and tech. Same old tech housing is not a good that adds anything new to the economy. If those workers want to enjoy the full benefits of their salaries in the form of goods, they have to save up and move to cheap boring areas. Such consumption is physically or emotionally impractical. I guess that's where Hyperloops come in. Basic income could also lead to inflation. It's unprecedented and will have weird new consequences. The expectation with adding more workers was that more people would have economic freedom. The result is fewer people enjoy economic freedom, the middle class shrunk so more people have to work. If basic income doesn't remove a large percentage from the workforce or new sectors aren't added, the result will again be inflationary. Kickstarter is economic freedom now. |
If we increased the amount of buildable land, either by upzoning existing neighborhoods to allow property owners to build apartments and support high-quality transit (my preference) or building infinite freeways and suburban sprawl unto the horizon (Houston/Dallas' model, which while profoundly distasteful and inefficient, is very successful at providing ample detached single-family homes in an areas with growing economies).