The Coming Economic Transformation: Automation, Trade, and Democracy’s Test, Projections for 10,20,30 years
The Great Economic Realignment: Automation, Tariffs, and the Future of Human Value The world is entering an era of profound economic restructuring, driven by the combined forces of tariff policies , artificial intelligence (AI) , and robotic automation . Together, these forces are eroding the economic primacy of human labor and challenging traditional notions of citizenship, democracy, and societal value. By 2025, U.S. consumers were paying 67% of tariff costs , up from 22% before 2025, while global robot installations hit a record $16.5 billion . The question is no longer if automation will reshape our economies, but how societies will respond when labor’s market value declines . This article organizes the transformation across economic, technological, social, political, and environmental dimensions , offers three scenarios for 2040 and 2055 , and provides key indicators to track quarterly . 1. Economic Shift: The Purchasing Power Paradox For decades, the U.S. model relied on ...