Engels' Pause Returns? Workers May Wait 50 Years for AI's Gains
tinyfool · x · 2026-09-28
A widely shared thread revisits economic historian Robert Allen's 'Engels' Pause': during the Industrial Revolution, British wages stagnated for 50 years (1790–1840) and only outpaced GDP by 1900. Gains lag decades as returns fund expansion—meaning the generation sacrificed is never the one that benefits. The implied warning: AI-era workers may face the same painful transition.
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