Tech cut US work hours from 69 to 38 since 1830 while incomes rose 20x — Rattner says AI can do the same

FinanceYF5 · x · 2026-10-07

FinanceYF5 highlights charts from Steven Rattner's New York Times opinion piece: since 1830, technology has cut the US workweek from 69 hours to 38 while real per-capita income grew roughly 20-fold. Rattner argues that well-managed, AI could deliver the same transformation.

This post is a shorter restatement of the same charts discussed in a companion post.

Related event: Six Charts in NYT Argue a Stagnating America Needs AI More Than Anyone(5 posts)→

Original post →

More from AGI Musings

AGI Musings channel →