Anton Korinek: AI Automation Pushes the Clearing Wage for Cognitive Jobs Down
akorinek · x · 2026-09-11
- Economist Anton Korinek responded to Brian Albrecht on modeling labor markets in AI growth work: the key point is that the cognitive wage is pulled toward the clearing wage given workers still in cognitive jobs, and AI automation pushes that clearing wage down relative to other wages.
- They discuss the wage-indexation mechanism in a Blanchard-Gali-style model: cognitive wages indexed to a growing frictionless benchmark can rise above the level consistent with employing existing workers, prompting firms to cut employment. Open question: how much of the unemployment result comes from this benchmark choice vs. standard sticky-wage mechanisms.
Related event: Economists Model How AI Automation Depresses Cognitive-Wage Equilibria(3 posts)→
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