[superturkey650]

Why do you say there is a finite amount of work needed? There might be, at any one time, a finite amount of work someone is willing to pay x > 0 dollars for, but as x goes to 0 I’d intuitively think the amount of work increases indefinitely.

[AnthonyMouse]

This is exactly what happens. Because of automation, the amount of labor needed to do all the work that was done in the 19th century is now a low single digit percentage of the population, and yet the unemployment rate is low.

The actual problem is artificial scarcity, not automation. A robot that can build housing cheaper than humans is great. A law that restricts new housing from being built so young people can't afford it is not.

[hi-v-rocknroll]

We need to find more work for people to do and make it easier to start businesses.

[carlosjobim]

Workers are already at an extremely high level of productivity compared to any other time in history. The problem is what they get in exchange for their labour, and that is a question of monetary policy and how inflationary money enters the economy (it's through real estate).

[hi-v-rocknroll]

Going beyond unionization to ownership, one solution is worker-owned co-ops. Making those easy to start and providing tax benefits for such would be fantastic.

[carlosjobim]

Worker owned co-ops have existed for a long time and they don't solve the problem, because they still have to compete on the free market for money that is created out of thin air and distributed through real estate.