{"id":5210,"date":"2024-11-08T16:40:55","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T06:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/?p=5210"},"modified":"2024-11-15T10:01:42","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T23:31:42","slug":"as-hard-as-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/as-hard-as-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"As Hard As Ever (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why is it that, despite all the benefits of technology, we\u2019re still working as much as ever to secure a decent life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t have have any groundbreaking insights, but it\u2019s fun to ponder. Plus, it&#8217;s somewhat relevant for anyone managing their own capital, particularly if you\u2019re looking to account for any long-term, technology driven structural shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s my take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Technology is, at its core, a productivity machine. It lets us make more, do more, and ideally spend less time on the things that chew up our energy. So, in theory, every time a new productivity booster &#8212; like electricity, telecommunications, or maybe AI &#8212; shows up, society should end up with more &#8220;stuff&#8221; without everyone working longer hours. Think about the impact of assembly lines, barcodes, or container shipping: huge productivity leaps that cut down on human input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet here we are, with the average person today working just as hard as ever for what we\u2019d call a \u201ccomfortable\u201d life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, the material improvement in living standards over the past century has been astounding. That&#8217;s what technology has enabled, along with improved (If not still flawed) standards of governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it&#8217;s curious how the immense productivity gains we&#8217;ve experienced haven&#8217;t helped us more easily afford essentials like housing, or avoid a wider &#8216;cost of living &#8216; crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those of us who see true wealth as that which enables freedom over our time, these gains in productivity just aren\u2019t apparent in day-to-day life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, the &#8216;economy&#8217; has grown, but it seems we&#8217;re having to run ever faster to stay on the hamster wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least for those not fortunate enough to have accumulated a good base of real assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take the U.S., where productivity has climbed over recent decades, yet median wages have flatlined. Essentials like housing, healthcare, and education &#8212; they\u2019ve all surged far faster than wage growth. Data from the Pew Research Center and the U.S. Census Bureau shows people are spending a greater chunk of their income on basics compared to past generations, especially in developed economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The crux is that while technology has indeed upgraded our material lives, it hasn\u2019t given us all that much extra free time &#8212; or at least, not in line with the gains in economic growth. There\u2019s a curious disconnect between this productivity boom and what that actually means for individual wealth, at least beyond the crude measure of GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it\u2019s not like we\u2019re all slogging it to support lavish lifestyles we could easily cut back on. I\u2019m talking about regular people struggling to afford the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here in Australia, for the average worker, buying a basic home without family assistance is close to impossible. Even if you\u2019re earning well above average and saving diligently, it&#8217;ll take you most of your working life to finally own a home outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, while tech has undoubtedly boosted society materially, even young, well-paid professionals today struggle to secure the basics solely through their own earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why? Well, it\u2019s a blend of who owns the capital, how productivity gains are distributed, and how we keep track of it all, especially as it relates to all the debt we&#8217;ve accumulated. Not that I want to get into political and economic philosophy &#8212; that&#8217;s a lot of a fun, but probably won&#8217;t yield any practical outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No, the point of highlighting the disconnect between past tech growth and the deterioration in things like housing affordability and the overall cost of living is to show that value accrues in unexpected (and often unfair) ways.<br><br>And if we ever hope to build and secure genuine wealth for ourselves and our families, we should seek to understand why that is, and what it suggests in terms of how we should allocate our precious time and savings.<br><br>Everyone will have their view, but I think there are some lessons from history that may serve us well.<br><br>It&#8217;s a big topic, so it&#8217;ll have to wait for <a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/as-hard-as-ever-part-2\/\">next week<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-very-dark-gray-color has-very-light-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background has-normal-font-size\"><em>Strawman is Australia\u2019s premier online investment club. <br>Members share research &amp; recommendations on ASX-listed stocks by managing Virtual Portfolios and building Company Reports. By ranking content according to performance and community endorsement, Strawman provides accountable and peer-reviewed investment insights. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-very-light-gray-color has-tertiary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/signup\"> Create your FREE Strawman account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\"><em><strong>Disclaimer\u2013<\/strong> Strawman is not a broker and you cannot purchase shares through the platform. All trades on Strawman use play money and are intended only as a tool to gain experience and have fun. No content on Strawman should be considered an inducement to to buy or sell real world financial securities, and you should seek professional advice before making any investment decisions<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\">\u00a9 2024 Strawman Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">| <a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/privacy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/member\/landing\/terms\">Terms of Service<\/a> |<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is it that, despite all the benefits of technology, we\u2019re still working as much as ever to secure a decent life? I don&#8217;t have have any groundbreaking insights, but it\u2019s fun to ponder. Plus, it&#8217;s somewhat relevant for anyone managing their own capital, particularly if you\u2019re looking to account for any long-term, technology driven structural shifts. Here\u2019s my take. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As Hard As Ever (Part 1) - Strawman Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/as-hard-as-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Hard As Ever (Part 1) - Strawman Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why is it that, despite all the benefits of technology, we\u2019re still working as much as ever to secure a decent life? I don&#8217;t have have any groundbreaking insights, but it\u2019s fun to ponder. Plus, it&#8217;s somewhat relevant for anyone managing their own capital, particularly if you\u2019re looking to account for any long-term, technology driven structural shifts. Here\u2019s my take. 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