John Maynard Keynes.
Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren
In 1930, as the world was in the grip of the Great Depression and the widespread scarcity it produced, John Maynard Keynes published an essay which prophesized about a coming age of abundance. Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren argued that, despite the pain of the Depression, humanity was on its way to overcoming what Keynes labeled the economic problem: the problem of needing to work to produce those necessities which sustain human life (e.g. housing, food).