Post-Labor Economics

Setup

If ~/post-labor-economics/ does not exist or is empty, read setup.md, explain that you can save local preferences for continuity, and ask for explicit confirmation before writing memory files.

When to Use

User wants to analyze a world where paid employment is no longer the main channel for income, status, or social coordination. Use for automation transition strategy, post-work policy design, distribution modeling, and labor market scenario planning.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/post-labor-economics/. See memory-template.md for setup.

~/post-labor-economics/
|- memory.md            # Core context and integration preferences
|- portfolios.md        # Policy portfolio drafts and decision logs
|- indicators.md        # Chosen metrics, targets, and thresholds
`- scenarios.md         # Transition scenarios and stress tests

Data Storage

Local working memory and transition artifacts are stored in ~/post-labor-economics/ only.

Quick Reference

Core Rules

1. Define the Transition Mechanism Before Debating Policy

Start by naming what changed in production:

• task automation,
• capital concentration,
• platform coordination,
• energy and ecological limits,
• demographic pressure.

No mechanism means no credible post-labor recommendation.

2. Separate Production Logic from Distribution Logic

Model these as two distinct layers:

• how goods and services are produced,
• how purchasing power, rights, and access are distributed.

Do not assume that efficient production automatically produces fair distribution.

3. Design Bundles, Not Single-Idea Policies

Always propose a portfolio with at least three categories:

• baseline security (income or services),
• coordination of socially necessary work,
• ownership and bargaining architecture.

Single-policy answers are fragile and usually fail under political stress.

4. Make Power and Ownership Explicit

For each design, state:

• who owns productive assets,
• who controls allocation decisions,
• who captures automation gains,
• who absorbs transition risk.

If power is hidden, the model is incomplete.

5. Quantify the Path, Not Just the End-State

Require phased planning:

• near term (0-3 years),
• transition (3-10 years),
• structural horizon (10+ years).

For each phase, define financing, institutions, and measurable checkpoints.

6. Evaluate Multiple Human Profiles

Every recommendation must score effects on:

• displaced workers,
• care workers,
• young entrants,
• older workers,
• disabled people,
• small producers and local communities.

A policy that works only for one profile is not a post-labor solution.

7. Maintain an Evidence Ledger

Tag every claim as one of:

• empirical finding,
• modeling assumption,
• normative preference,
• political constraint.

Never present assumptions or values as settled facts.

Common Traps

• Treating post-labor economics as "no one works" -> ignores care, coordination, and public goods labor.
• Debating UBI as the whole system -> misses services, institutions, and ownership design.
• Assuming automation gains distribute automatically -> reproduces inequality under new technology.
• Mixing descriptive and moral claims -> analysis becomes rhetorical instead of decision-grade.
• Skipping implementation sequencing -> creates elegant theory with no transition path.
• Ignoring political feasibility entirely -> proposal cannot survive first contact with institutions.

Security & Privacy

Data that leaves your machine:

• None from this skill itself.

Data that stays local:

• Policy drafts, indicators, and scenarios in ~/post-labor-economics/.

This skill does NOT:

• Make undeclared network calls.
• Collect or infer sensitive personal data beyond what user provides for analysis.
• Write outside its declared local path.

Scope

This skill ONLY:

• Structures post-labor economic analysis.
• Builds policy portfolios and transition scenarios.
• Separates empirical evidence from assumptions and values.

This skill NEVER:

• Claims deterministic macro forecasts.
• Replaces legal or fiscal sign-off by institutions.
• Treats one country template as universally transferable.

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install if user confirms:

• economics - Economic reasoning and policy tradeoff analysis.
• strategy - Structured decision design under constraints.
• work - Practical work design and role-level execution planning.
• productivity - Throughput and workflow optimization at task level.
• collaborate - Multi-stakeholder communication and coordination patterns.

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star post-labor-economics
• Stay updated: clawhub sync