

Ask HN: Will Peak Employment happen? - mangeletti

I&#x27;d like to coin &quot;Peak Employment&quot; for the following:<p>I think that within the next N (15-30?) years, we&#x27;ll reach a point in time when more people will be employed than will ever be employed after that time.<p>Do you think this will happen (globally, or in the US, etc.), and when do you think it will occur?
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mangeletti
Proposing some possible Reasons:

1\. technological advancements and automation (i.e., "Tractored Out" \- see
[http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/machines_02...](http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/machines_02.html))

2\. population decrease (e.g., less people needed to support the wealthy, due
to reason 1, causing long-term famine and eventual decrease in population)

3\. wealth distribution and socialism, due to reason 1 (resulting in equalized
output without increasing labor requirements)

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dragonwriter
If you look at it in terms of percentage of available lifetime hours devoted
to wage labor, I would expect it will happen -- if it hasn't already -- but I
don't think that that clear enough statistics are available to be certain if
or when it has.

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mangeletti
I agree, it'll be tough to know exactly when, but it'll be clear in hindsight
if/when it happens.

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dllthomas
To clarify, are we talking absolute numbers, percentage of the total
population, or percentage of the population interested in working?

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mangeletti
The question is pertaining the total number of people employed.

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e3pi
Ask HN: Will Peak Slavery happen?

I'd like to coin "Peak Slavery" for the following:

I think that within the next N (15-30?) years, we'll reach a point in time
when more people will be enslaved and waged-slaved than will ever be employed
after that time.

Do you think this will happen (globally, or in the US, etc.), and when do you
think it will occur?

[http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/peak-
employmen...](http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/peak-employment/)

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mangeletti
Wow, nice find (blog link).

