Those who hope theirtwenty-something offspring will eventually move out on their ownprobably shouldn't read Average Is Over, a trendy new bookby economist Tyler Cowen.

The general idea is this: the Great Recession exposed thepainful truth that most middle-wage earners don't produce enoughwork to justify their salaries and benefits. And as thetechnological revolution continues to change the way we work, mostwon't be able to improve their skill set enough to qualify forhigh-earning jobs. High-wage jobs will require workers who canquickly and easily use computers to improve their production andprofitability. Think about how computerized trading has changedWall Street. Expect more of that.

Many mid-wage jobs will be replaced by computers, leavingAmericans unwilling to improve their skills to either live offgovernment benefits or work low-wage jobs. In our culture, we'vebeen conditioned to expect mid-range salaries, especially afterearning a bachelor's degree. Because of these culturalexpectations, most are psychologically unwilling to accept alow-wage job instead.

Ten years ago, 5 million Americans collected a federaldisability benefit. Today, the number is up to 8.2 million.However, the American workplace has never been safer. It's noaccident many of those who now collect disability applied for thebenefit following a job loss, Cowen observed.

Today's unemployed and underemployed youth are a perfect exampleof this phenomenon at work.

“In a wealthy society, sometimes it's just enough to get by andhave a good time. It may not sound adventurous or even veryAmerican, but we're going to be seeing more of that in the years tocome,” Cowen wrote.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan famously said three-quartersof Americans between the ages of 17 and 34 are unfit to serve inthe military for reasons that include drug use, medications, weightproblems, bad credit scores and criminal records.

Remember when the military was for young adults who couldn't cutit in the working world? It's not just that young people havechanged; the military has changed, too. Brute force positions arerapidly being replaced by those that require technologicalexpertise. The increasing use of drone warfare and cyber warfareare two good examples.

Cowen's theories have many implications for credit unions.

The most pressing one is that credit unions might want torethink the efforts they're putting into attracting Gen Y. That'snot to say credit unions shouldn't strive to attract youngmembers—without them, the industry will die.

However, Gen Y and the generations that follow won't have thewealth of baby boomers or even Gen X. For a business model thatrelies upon lending, that's a sobering thought.

The credit union as a workplace could also radically change.

We can expect automated transactions to continue to replacemanual ones. That means more members will use mobile banking andfewer will visit branches. And, kiosks will increasingly replacein-person tellers, thanks to rising costs of benefits, liabilityand other operational expenses.

But even with improvements in artificial intelligence, there aresome things that the old- fashioned human brain computer can stilldo better than IBM or Apple.

Cowen uses the example of chess, and how computer programsalready regularly beat chess masters. Computerized programs doespecially well in chess because it is a regularized environmentwhere the right answer can be reached by pure calculation.

However, computers will probably never replace humans in thegame of poker, because of the psychological aspect. Computers don'tknow how to psych out opponents, bluff or read tells.

For credit unions, that means loan processor positions maydwindle, but loan officers that can make accurate credit riskjudgment calls beyond FICO scores and debt ratios still have aplace in the future.

Credit unions might also want to rethink the resources they putinto corporate headquarters and commercial business lending. Cowenagrees with economists who say rush hour traffic will eventually bea thing of the past, as most workers will telecommute in thefuture, only occasionally showing up at an office forcollaboration.

Office buildings could convert into slum lofts for unemployedand underemployed young adults, who can't afford cars and will livenear city centers, where they can get everything they need onfoot.

Interestingly, Cowen thinks human skills like marketing andmanagement will translate into high-paying jobs along withpredictable positions in technology, law and finance.

If you're like me,you've had a hunch jobs lost in the Great Recession aren't comingback, and the widening income disparity is here to stay. Cowen doesa great job of quantifying that hunch in his book, and I know I'llbe keeping an eye on hisMarginal Revolution blog.