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Notes -
There is actually an option (5) that might be the most realistic. Price of goods go to zero in an automated world. Status goods would still exists and likely be quite expensive. But if you have robots that make robots who do the work why wouldn’t actually costs of goods approach zero? Fb/twitter for example are zero. I know their ad supported. Other goods have fallen in price like computers. I think a broader freemium model might end up working for a lot of goods.
I think this is the most reasonable model: marginal costs trend to zero on most essentials, but never truly zero to ensure a some level of allocation efficiency. Eventually we decide that we can either give things to those without, or that payment infrastructure is just too much effort for things like internet searches and email. A century ago food scarcity was a real concern, but practically nobody in the West suffers from a lack of access to calories in 2022 (although the nutrition of those calories is certainly often lacking).
A few centuries ago, wars were fought over the trade of black pepper, among other spices. The word salary has a Latin origin relating to salt as practically a method of payment. I find it ironic that both of these now sit ignored on restaurant tables and come in packets with disposable utensils that largely end up in landfills.
That said, the hedonic treadmill is a powerful thing and I can absolutely imagine future generations convincing themselves that it has actually gotten worse somehow.
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