If there is mortality, the total amount of time alive is constant, and with it the cost, so the cost of living is irrelevant.
If there is immortality and impatience, it will be worth while to freeze yourself if the cost of cryo is less than the amount of money you make in this time, most likely through interest. This has nothing to do with the cost of living.
If there is immortality and patience, you could theoretically save money by going into cryostasis. In order for this to work, stasis would have to be cheaper than the net cost of living, including the money you make while living (not including interest). This will, in all probability, be below zero. People make enough to live on. As such, this would not be worth while.
I suppose it could mean that part of the labor force will freeze itself during economic slumps, since they won’t be able to do much anyway. It would have to be cheaper than the cost of living by enough to make up for the possibility of getting a job even during a slump. I suppose if they set it up so you can get a job just as easily while frozen, then get waken up immediately, then people will start freezing themselves in this case.
I agree that people would probably hibernate as a solution to job loss, which would reduce labor market competition during economic slumps. During hibernation, they would not need housing, food, entertainment, or transportation. This would be easiest for single people—though I suppose married couples or entire families and tight-knit social groups might arrange to hibernate simultaneously.
While labor market competition would become less desperate, the actual number of available candidates would go up, as employers would be able to thaw out prospective employees as soon as they acquire openings. The biggest danger would be to people who have obsolete skills or no skills, and also have no interest-bearing assets or passive income to pay their living expenses. They might end up stuck in indefinite stasis in a large government-run, energy-cost-optimized facility, as the less expensive alternative to welfare.
If there is mortality, the total amount of time alive is constant, and with it the cost, so the cost of living is irrelevant.
If there is immortality and impatience, it will be worth while to freeze yourself if the cost of cryo is less than the amount of money you make in this time, most likely through interest. This has nothing to do with the cost of living.
If there is immortality and patience, you could theoretically save money by going into cryostasis. In order for this to work, stasis would have to be cheaper than the net cost of living, including the money you make while living (not including interest). This will, in all probability, be below zero. People make enough to live on. As such, this would not be worth while.
I suppose it could mean that part of the labor force will freeze itself during economic slumps, since they won’t be able to do much anyway. It would have to be cheaper than the cost of living by enough to make up for the possibility of getting a job even during a slump. I suppose if they set it up so you can get a job just as easily while frozen, then get waken up immediately, then people will start freezing themselves in this case.
I agree that people would probably hibernate as a solution to job loss, which would reduce labor market competition during economic slumps. During hibernation, they would not need housing, food, entertainment, or transportation. This would be easiest for single people—though I suppose married couples or entire families and tight-knit social groups might arrange to hibernate simultaneously.
While labor market competition would become less desperate, the actual number of available candidates would go up, as employers would be able to thaw out prospective employees as soon as they acquire openings. The biggest danger would be to people who have obsolete skills or no skills, and also have no interest-bearing assets or passive income to pay their living expenses. They might end up stuck in indefinite stasis in a large government-run, energy-cost-optimized facility, as the less expensive alternative to welfare.
Next year’s hit dystopian thriller, starring Justin Timberlake?
That sounds like a plausible prediction :)