Everyone’s circumstances vary, but I expect for most people reading LW, there won’t be enough time between now and AGI to accumulate sufficient capital to live off for the rest of their lives if their labor value reaches zero.
That said, I do endorse saving some emergency funds for overall resilience.
Consumer goods will get far cheaper once humans are automated away because of increased productivity, so accumulated capital will likely buy more in the future. (Though the price of land and rent will likely remain high, since land is a good that is in limited supply. Which also explains why it is historically unaffected or negatively affected by productivity.)
Additionally, at least AI stock valuation is likely to continue to rise after AGI, so capital investment can increase even after technological unemployment.
And if capital investment is not enough for most people to live off of for the rest of their lives after AGI, it is certainly enough to live at least longer and die later than without these investments.
This is especially important for people living in countries other than the US, which have no major AI companies they could tax, which means UBI would likely be far lower than in the US.
I would add the following:
Accumulate capital to prepare for the time when labor value approaches zero and you become unemployed.
Everyone’s circumstances vary, but I expect for most people reading LW, there won’t be enough time between now and AGI to accumulate sufficient capital to live off for the rest of their lives if their labor value reaches zero.
That said, I do endorse saving some emergency funds for overall resilience.
Consumer goods will get far cheaper once humans are automated away because of increased productivity, so accumulated capital will likely buy more in the future. (Though the price of land and rent will likely remain high, since land is a good that is in limited supply. Which also explains why it is historically unaffected or negatively affected by productivity.)
Additionally, at least AI stock valuation is likely to continue to rise after AGI, so capital investment can increase even after technological unemployment.
And if capital investment is not enough for most people to live off of for the rest of their lives after AGI, it is certainly enough to live at least longer and die later than without these investments.
This is especially important for people living in countries other than the US, which have no major AI companies they could tax, which means UBI would likely be far lower than in the US.
I agree about overall deflation, and relative exceptions for land/housing barring policy interventions.