How to share the AI windfall
May 14th 2026|5 min read
Should artificial intelligence cause mass unemployment, workers will not be thrilled. But neither will the taxman, even if he hasn’t been automated. For most of the past century, rich countries have had simple rules for sharing prosperity: raise money mostly by taxing work and consumption, sprinkle in some borrowing and hand out the proceeds. That model may collapse if AI advances as quickly as its boosters suggest. Hence, many say, a new approach is needed, in which government makes its money primarily from the new technology.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “How to share the AI windfall”
From the May 16th 2026 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
readers loved this