That's true for all kinds of efficiency, including automation, which is near and dear to the hearts of Hacker News readers.
The benefits of improved efficiency and automation, as you have pointed out, skip over employees. Some of them accrue to customers in the form of lower prices, but largely they accrue to management and shareholders in the form of increased profits. Costco appears to be the exception that proves the rule, here.
In theory, efficiency and automation should be a net benefit to society, as we can then enjoy the same level of goods produced with less labor involved, but the uneven distribution of benefits causes lots of avoidable suffering on the part of laid-off workers.
A guaranteed basic income for all (as opposed to means-tested benefits like welfare and the EITC) would fix a lot of that. It would remove the suffering from losing your job, and give investors an incentive to automate even more, as now you would have to pay people quite a bit to motivate them to accept low-skill menial jobs.
We can fund such a basic income in part by dismantling the welfare state bureaucracy. No means testing makes distribution much simpler. The rest through higher taxes on income beyond the basic.
The benefits of improved efficiency and automation, as you have pointed out, skip over employees. Some of them accrue to customers in the form of lower prices, but largely they accrue to management and shareholders in the form of increased profits. Costco appears to be the exception that proves the rule, here.
In theory, efficiency and automation should be a net benefit to society, as we can then enjoy the same level of goods produced with less labor involved, but the uneven distribution of benefits causes lots of avoidable suffering on the part of laid-off workers.
A guaranteed basic income for all (as opposed to means-tested benefits like welfare and the EITC) would fix a lot of that. It would remove the suffering from losing your job, and give investors an incentive to automate even more, as now you would have to pay people quite a bit to motivate them to accept low-skill menial jobs.
We can fund such a basic income in part by dismantling the welfare state bureaucracy. No means testing makes distribution much simpler. The rest through higher taxes on income beyond the basic.