This is what "student loan forgiveness" and "free college" and "UBI" proponents simply do not grasp: the inherent value of anything is equivalent to what must be traded for it in exchange.
Excellent article but you missed one huge point. Don't feel bad for missing it since almost everyone does. I'm talking about automation.
It's fine to get paid for the actual manual or intellectual labor your do, but in all your calculations you must also factor in automation. That aspect of work value that no one currently gets paid for. In order to have a sustainable economy all work must have value. The opposite is also true, that all work that has no value must be abandoned.
When the value of automation only goes into the corporate coffers to further enrich the millionaires and billionaires then such an economic system becomes unsustainable because the wealth does not flow as it needs to flow. To be sustainable the value of automation must be equally distributed to all parties involved. In nature when it only rains in certain locations flooding occurs, and where it doesn't rain there is drought, and everybody suffers as a result. So it is with an economic system.
Say Widget Inc. starts off with 100 full time employees (40 hrs/wk). Salaries are adequate, work is plentiful and everyone benefits. Then Widget Inc. automates half of their processes, lays off 50 workers and keeps the remaining 50 full time workers. That is devastating and completely unsustainable!
The correct approach is to automate half of the processes, keep your 100 employees but reduce their work week to 20 hrs, and equally share the wealth generated by the automation with your employees so they still receive a full paycheck.
That way Widget Inc. just improved the life and lot of all 100 employees, made the company more profitable, reduced liabilities in a number of ways, all while producing the same or better product line as before, and while the corporate coffers may be receiving less cash, it is still receiving enough to meet it's needs and more. Worker morale is greatly improved. Family life of its workers is improved. Overall health of the workforce is improved etc, etc.
One more point. There's lots of talk lately about student debt forgiveness. The real issue is why should any student become indebted to get an education to begin with? There are countries on this planet where all education is free, and their system works well enough. Why are some countries continuing to put their students in massive debt? Then of course there's the issue of garbage education but that's for another day.
Gold is money. Everything else is credit.
- J.P. Morgan (1912)
Excellent article but you missed one huge point. Don't feel bad for missing it since almost everyone does. I'm talking about automation.
It's fine to get paid for the actual manual or intellectual labor your do, but in all your calculations you must also factor in automation. That aspect of work value that no one currently gets paid for. In order to have a sustainable economy all work must have value. The opposite is also true, that all work that has no value must be abandoned.
When the value of automation only goes into the corporate coffers to further enrich the millionaires and billionaires then such an economic system becomes unsustainable because the wealth does not flow as it needs to flow. To be sustainable the value of automation must be equally distributed to all parties involved. In nature when it only rains in certain locations flooding occurs, and where it doesn't rain there is drought, and everybody suffers as a result. So it is with an economic system.
Say Widget Inc. starts off with 100 full time employees (40 hrs/wk). Salaries are adequate, work is plentiful and everyone benefits. Then Widget Inc. automates half of their processes, lays off 50 workers and keeps the remaining 50 full time workers. That is devastating and completely unsustainable!
The correct approach is to automate half of the processes, keep your 100 employees but reduce their work week to 20 hrs, and equally share the wealth generated by the automation with your employees so they still receive a full paycheck.
That way Widget Inc. just improved the life and lot of all 100 employees, made the company more profitable, reduced liabilities in a number of ways, all while producing the same or better product line as before, and while the corporate coffers may be receiving less cash, it is still receiving enough to meet it's needs and more. Worker morale is greatly improved. Family life of its workers is improved. Overall health of the workforce is improved etc, etc.
One more point. There's lots of talk lately about student debt forgiveness. The real issue is why should any student become indebted to get an education to begin with? There are countries on this planet where all education is free, and their system works well enough. Why are some countries continuing to put their students in massive debt? Then of course there's the issue of garbage education but that's for another day.
Great one CC.
College graduates with jobs contribute value to the economy worth more than 10k.