In a world where it’s dramatically cheaper to build infrastructure like roads, power, and plumbing, lots more land becomes desirable as a place to live.
replyTake Phoenix, for example, once air conditioning became cheap and pervasive.
> In a world where it’s dramatically cheaper to build infrastructure...
replyYou can not make things dramatically cheaper by bringing only the cost of labor to zero. Your argument is circular!
Enough that it's effectively infinite, yes. Especially if we are imagining a world where subways cost 1/20th of what they do today.
reply> where subways cost 1/20th of what they do today.
reply1) We are talking about reducing the cost of labor, not overall costs.
2) Your logic only applies in the micro, not on the macro. If the cost of producing one thing goes down while population keeps their purchasing power, then what you are saying would make sense. The whole point of the article is that accelerated automation can bring a scenario where the cost of producing "things" would go down, but the economically active population would shrink drastically.