Our economic problems are different

From the musical Grease: “ … Your future’s so unclear now. What’s left of your career now? Can’t even get a trade-in on your smile.”

Until very recently, we could all advise young people on how to become productive and self-supporting. Get an education (or learn a trade), have a good work ethic, don’t break the law, save for the future, and if you get married, try to stay married.

Increasingly, we have young people who have followed this advise. Yet, they struggle to start a career, pay for basics, start a family, buy a home, and save for retirement.

I am skeptical that AI will make the economic concept of scarcity disappear. Will many of us be dependent on tax revenue from the super wealthy just to subsist?

This feels very different from the economic challenges of the past. ”Tough times don’t last, but tough people do” was a motto for many of us. The future seems so unclear now. I apologize if I worry people. Do not worry. I am worried enough for all of us.

Mike Streb

Iowa City