About this Video

• Video Title: Post-Labor Economics Lecture 01 - "Better, Faster, Cheaper, Safer" (2025 update)
• Channel: David Shapiro
• Speakers: David Shapiro
• Duration: 00:36:02

Introduction

This video is the first of a four-part lecture series on post-labor economics. The speaker introduces the concept of post-labor economics, where wages for labor are no longer the primary economic driver, and explores the factors contributing to this shift, focusing on the "better, faster, cheaper, safer" criteria for automation replacing human labor.

Key Takeaways

1. Post-Labor Economics Defined: A paradigm shift where the exchange of wages for labor is no longer the primary driver of the economy, primarily due to automation and AI advancements. This leads to economic decoupling (GDP growth independent of human labor) and social contract breakdown (the right to work becomes meaningless).
2. "Better, Faster, Cheaper, Safer": When automation surpasses human capabilities in these four areas, labor substitution becomes inevitable. AI and robots are increasingly exceeding human performance in quality, speed, cost, and safety.
3. Human Attributes & Labor Demand: Human labor will persist only where humans specifically demand other humans, despite better alternatives. These niches include high-liability jobs, statutory positions, experience-based work (entertainment, arts), meaning-making roles, and jobs based on relationships and trust.
4. Addressing Economic Challenges: The "lump of labor fallacy" (finite amount of work) is false; human demand is infinite. However, this doesn't guarantee new jobs; technological deflation creates new spending categories. The video discusses the roles of businesses (seeking zero human employees), consumers (needing economic agency), governments (balancing needs and potential interventions), and banks (facilitating transactions and economic stability) in navigating this transition.