The 3rd edition of Future Sin’s Ask A Futurist series poses a single question for Michael, Kurt, and Travis to answer: Will future human generations keep getting poorer?

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Michael:

How Serious is Wealth Inequality?

If we look at the rate of the acceleration of wealth inequality, in terms of a minority owning the majority of wealth (and growth) on the planet, it’s getting worrisome. The generation that comes after Millennials, namely GenZ and Alpha, have their own, new struggles.

The reason being is we are on track not for AI to democratize opportunity and convenience, but for it to further enslave us. Witness in China a social credit system that punishes citizens with very harsh penalties (e.g. not being able to travel home to family!), higher rates on loans, etc…

In the U.S. when we look at rising student loan debt decade by decade it’s an even more alarming trend. The cost of healthcare, housing and “tier-1” cities is also highly problematic in relation to a lot of uncertainty at work. Stagnant waves, more underemployment and more able bodied males falling through the cracks and outside of the labor force semi-permanently.

Since those working in the freelance and “Gig-economy” don’t typically have access to “benefits”, unions or protection from fraudulent employers and contracts, it’s very difficult for their lifetime earnings to be adequate to save for retirement.

We know that the generation who began their careers after the recession of 2008, are basically permanently stunted. Born anywhere between 1977 and 1992, these citizens have delayed home ownership dramatically, pair up less, and have less children due to economic factors and pressure.