Are there no jobs because people are too productive?

[grouchyoldcoot]

I was reading an opinion piece on CNN, and it put me in mind of something I've been wondering about for a while- are we moving into an era where there is just no economic motivation to employ additional people? The individual productivity of employed people has been rising pretty steadily for a long time. It seems reasonable that it would

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[grouchyoldcoot]

Here's an interesting number: it would take about 25% of US GDP to give every adult in the US the equivalent of a year's salary at minimum wage. I believe the total US government budget is about 20% of GDP; that's 11% of GDP for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. The military gets between 4% and 8% of GDP, depending on how you count.