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> Google also has $50 billion in cash. It has no idea how to invest that money in technology effectively ... if we're living in an accelerating technological wo
by dustingetz 6y ago
> Google also has $50 billion in cash. It has no idea how to invest that money in technology effectively ... if we're living in an accelerating technological world, and you have zero percent interest rates, you should be able to invest all of your money in things that will return it many times over. The fact is you're out of ideas.
Idea possibly bad: Free market progress is a force in balance with consolidation of power and interests. So some lack of progress can be explained by reaching a tipping point in the monopoly power where concentrated interests just kill anything disruptive. Michael Seibel has written about this.
- mrfusion 6y agoCan you recommend further reading?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jjoonathan 6y agoIn balance with? The free market is the mechanism for power consolidation, not its opponent. Companies merge and grow until they build a moat big enough to fend off their competitors and then the market enters nash equilibrium. Growth (or anything chaotic, really) shakes up the stable condition, changes the rules, and lets new entrants compete with Goliath. That's why we covet it so much.
- noetic_techy 6y agoI think Eric Weinstein would agree with you on this point. You should really listen to his podcast with Peter Thiel where they talk about similar interests disrupting advancement (The Portal - Episode 1). I don't buy the argument that the whole system is therefore useless and corrupt, but that it very much needs intervention to keep this sort of regulatory capture from occurring.
- dustingetz 6y agoFAAMG is like 20% of the GDP of the USA, the state can't intervene with itself
- noetic_techy 6y agoDo what we did in the past with monopolies: break them up. Trust busting to increase diversity and competition, just like the railroads of past. I would consider the advent of social media to be on the level of the advent of the railroad or the car. Same with search (Google) and even Amazon (mega online store with fast delivery). At the very least subsidize Walmart or some other competitor to build out a competitive advantage and eliminate Amazons head start. Very disappointed we don't have a Windows phone as an alternative also. I think 3 is the bare minimum for a technology to have good competition. So why not. My overall point though is the same, regulatory capture is bad and we should fight it regardless of monopolies or not.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- edanm 6y agoWhere did you get that idea? FAANG companies are valued at ~5 trillion USD (rough estimate). The US's GDP is 20 trillion USD. But the GDP is measured annually! The US has a GDP that's 4 times the value of the FAANG companies every year.
- dustingetz 6y agoThanks, I just found this better stat: "The “FAAMG” basket accounts for 18% of the total S&P 500 value"