Who Pays When AI Takes the Jobs? The Token Tax, Explained

Three-quarters of all U.S. federal tax revenue comes from labor. So what happens when AI starts replacing the workers that revenue depends on? In this episode, Shae breaks down a January 2026 Brookings Institution paper on the future of tax policy in the age of AI — walking through five proposed AI taxes, explaining exactly how a token tax works and when it does not, and asking the harder question underneath all of it: fund government to do what, and for whom?"The Future of Tax Policy: A Public Finance Framework for the Age of AI" , Anton Korinek & Lee Lockwood, Brookings Institution (January 2026) - https://www.brookings.edu/articles/future-tax-policy-a-public-finance-framework-for-the-age-of-ai/Companion Technical Working Paper, Korinek & Lockwood, Brookings Institution (January 2026) - https://www.brookings.edu/articles/public-finance-age-ai-primerFollow me onInsta: https://www.instagram.com/iamshaeo/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamshaeo Subscribe to my Newsletter: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/ Buy Me a Matcha:  https://buymeacoffee.com/iamshaeoEmail: pr@iamshaeo.com1:1 SupportBook a 1:1 Call with me: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/bookacall-7xv4fsun Check out my Stan store: https://stan.store/iamshaeo GuidesAI for Humanists: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/ai-resource-learning-guideCritical Thinking Skills Guide: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/critical-thinking-skills-in-the-age-of-ai Beginner’s Guide to LocalAI: https://stan.store/iamshaeo/p/a-beginners-guide-to-local-ai- Check out my Bookshop curated reading lists: https://shaeomonijo.substack.com/p/reading-lists *This post may contain Bookshop affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my work!