The Money Commons

Join us for "The Money Commons: Why We Should Pay Citizens Sure Money Before AI Takes Our Jobs."

What should happen as AI does ever more of our jobs? One answer is basic income. As people lose their jobs and pay, they won’t have money to buy what firms sell. But if we grant people money to buoy sales and profits, capitalism will stay afloat. AI techno-optimists (such as Elon Musk) go farther, predicting universal high income. Eventually, everyone can and likely will be given enough money for a comfortable life with optional work. Why, if at all this should happen, in principle, is a further question of political philosophy. This talk offers an answer founded on the nature of money. Money gains its value only from citizens' participation in society (by its “common credit”). Citizens, in turn, have a right to a fair share of the money, as reciprocity. As AI takes over the production side of the money economy, freeing our time to do other things, citizen contribution increasingly shifts toward valuable activities of life done not just for money — such as creative pursuits, leisure, sport, unpaid work, and service to others and to oneself. This reciprocity rationale will call for ever higher income grants as AI does more work. But it applies already, calling for money grants today, before AI takes all our jobs away.

Aaron James is a Chancellor's Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and has authored numerous articles and several books, including a New York Times bestseller.

James specializes in political philosophy and ethics, focusing on economic fairness from a social contract perspective and the role of money and public banking.

To learn more about Professor James and his work, visit his faculty page.

Sponsored by The Lampert Institute for Civic and Global Affairs with Support from the Philosophy Department's Jerome Balmuth Endowed Fund.