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96 sats \ 0 replies \ @optimism 17h
Because our livers are still hurting from the damage we did to it in '99
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Haha Krugman writing about the AI boom is a bit like Krugman writing about the internet boom
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In 1998, economist Paul Krugman wrote in Red Herring magazine: “The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in ‘Metcalfe’s law’—which states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participants—becomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.” 
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However, unlike the tech boom of the 1990s, the current AI boom isn’t translating into widespread economic optimism. In fact, Americans are remarkably downbeat about the economy and the future in general. And I think it’s worth trying to understand why.
Hottake: this is more cultural than economic
I know on this website most of you are either economic doomers, waiting for an eminent apocalypse or self loathing and whining how bad you think you have it.
But the real reason is that we've become culturally desensitized. Even people who made millions with nvidia just shrug their shoulders and go back to work instead of popping champagne. It doesn't feel like it matters anymore.
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