As artificial intelligence reshapes the economy, what happens when fewer workers are earning wages and contributing to the tax base? This week, Elisa is joined by Lee Lockwood, an economics professor at the University of Virginia, to examine the possibility of a modern “Engels’ Pause,” a prolonged period in which technological progress increases productivity and wealth without improving conditions for workers. Together, they explore how widespread automation could affect employment, inequality, government revenue, capital investment, and national security—and what history can teach us about navigating a post-labor economy.

Lee Lockwood is a professor of economics at the University of Virginia whose research focuses on transformative arti ...