Free Market and Automation
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This thread will take as read the (in my opinion uncontroversial) assumption that science will continue to progress, and at some time in the future we will have created machines which have physical dexterity and mental agility exceeding that of humans (at a lower expense).
At such a point, the vast majority of the populace will be unemployed, due to automation of human jobs.
This is sometimes claimed to be an economic fallacy. We will also take it as read that such a claim is a risible absurdity.
The argument for the claim goes something like, "in past instances of automation, although the original jobs were superseded, the new abundance of energy and the technological progress that this engendered created a whole new echelon of higher-level jobs which were then occupied, stabilising employment rates. Therefore, automation will never create permanent high unemployment".
This is, of course, not a rigorous argument, but just an extrapolation from events in different circumstances in a previous era. What is a rigorous argument, however, is that when machines can do everything that a human can but for less money, there patently be no rationale in hiring humans any more. New jobs will be created, but a priori, this time, the existing machines will already be able to do those, too.
So, the question is this: how will the free market economy (where the companies creating these machines will presumably arise) deal with this situation, in which virtually all jobs are automated?
It seems to me that a small number of people who own the 'means of production' will end up with all of the wealth and income. Everybody else will have a finite and dwindling wealth (actually a significant number will presumably have negative wealth, looking at the current economic situation), and no income, nor any means of ever attaining an income.
The great irony is that labour will have been rendered obsolete; and yet with contemporary economic models, it looks like we will end up with a potentially nightmarish situation rather than a utopia.
That's the focus, but feel free to discuss the effect on the state, and other types of economy.