I should note that “transfers” is not limited to unemployment benefits. For OECD governments, the biggest class of transfer by far is currently public pensions.
There are all sorts of good reasons why the elderly should be happy with lower public pensions (elderly poverty rates tend to be lower than for children or working-age adults, life expectancy has increased far more than retirement ages have). But that still doesn’t happen for political economy reasons. Perhaps that will change with TAI—the elderly tend to own more capital so they should see massive returns in general. Maybe they’ll be happy with <10x pension increases even as wages increase 10x. I just wouldn’t take that for granted.
Agree 100% that governments would need to tap into capital gains somehow, or capital more broadly. I also like that Capital dividend fund idea—thanks for sharing.
I should note that “transfers” is not limited to unemployment benefits. For OECD governments, the biggest class of transfer by far is currently public pensions.
There are all sorts of good reasons why the elderly should be happy with lower public pensions (elderly poverty rates tend to be lower than for children or working-age adults, life expectancy has increased far more than retirement ages have). But that still doesn’t happen for political economy reasons. Perhaps that will change with TAI—the elderly tend to own more capital so they should see massive returns in general. Maybe they’ll be happy with <10x pension increases even as wages increase 10x. I just wouldn’t take that for granted.
Agree 100% that governments would need to tap into capital gains somehow, or capital more broadly. I also like that Capital dividend fund idea—thanks for sharing.