I’m trying to understand the growing economic inequality in the industrial world. My provisional thesis is this:

Because of changes in wealth-creation processes in the mid-20th century, financial returns on labor inputs have been falling, while financial returns on capital invested in technological inputs have been rising.

Here are exhibits that I’ve collected so far showing this effect.

My hope is to elevate the political conversation on this subject. I believe that the source of much of today’s political polarization is growing economic inequality, which is a consequence of structural changes that occurred decades ago. Today's political conversation is about where to put the band-aids, with no recognition that the disease is systemic and the causes are remote. The solution, at its root, is education.

Here is an opening proposal. I would like to see developed a

simple and widely accessible flow model and simulator

that will elevate the discussion of automation, job loss, guaranteed income, etc.

If such a simulator were as attractive and compelling as a video game, if just about anyone could play with it in a browser, and if it encouraged group play and beneficial social interaction, this would impose a discipline that could move the conversation to a new place.

Here for discussion is an initial model. It suggests a connection to the provisional thesis but contains no information about dynamic behavior. Let's connect it to reality and figure out how to make it come to life.

The challenge I pose is that we learn to use the power of gaming in the service of general education, making as our first target the general ignorance around the sources of economic inequality.