I think that its generally agreed that technology will continue to improve exponentially. As such, the breakthroughs that will render any given job obsolete will be separated by less and less time and cost less and less to implement. This means that we could see a dramatic reduction in the amount of workers of all kinds needed to maintain or even improve our standard of living.
It seems unlikely that we will pay people to not work- particularly unlikely in the public sector, but as layoffs come faster and faster and increase in scope and scale to encompass not just unskilled jobs but also many white collar jobs (think of how programs are already influencing accounts at tax time) what will a post labor economy look like?
We're going to be a live to see the synergism (was that the term, Jeff?) when computers /programs pass humans in abilities and technologies blur the boundaries between human and computer/program to the point that interface will be thought based and it will be impossible to be sure where that 'thought' initiated. As such, what in the hell will we be doing with ourselves?
I can't really get anyone to talk about this seriously with me. I can't imagine power brokers willing to concede economic power but how can they maintain economic power without an economic base? How can consumers consume without sustained income? What percentage of the population would have to be unemployed in order for us to see dramatic changes in how business is done? And would a moratorium on development be a more likely solution than dramatic social and economic change?
Last, during the great depression for instance, what was the highest percentage of unemployment America has ever endured? And finally, how come nobody's talking about this?
