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Capital follows the most profitable investments. It's why "green" technology took so long to develop (we probably could have had efficient solar panels in the
by benlivengood 2y ago
Capital follows the most profitable investments. It's why "green" technology took so long to develop (we probably could have had efficient solar panels in the 60s, but oil was super cheap and more importantly very profitable). Dropping the cost of a $1e7 problem to even $1e6 probably makes it very profitable.
- deciplex 2y ago> Capital follows the most profitable investments. I think a common error is that people forget the "most" in this sentence. It is a very important word. It's not even that only profitable investments will get funded: even profitable projects might get left on the cutting room floor if they are competing for resources with projects that will generate, or are believed to generate, higher ROI. And this maybe isn't a problem if higher ROI == better than. But to believe that, you have to also believe that enshittification is a thing that happens in spite of being less profitable (or unprofitable), which for me at least is a hard sell.
- willturman 2y agoCapital has also employed anti-competitive actions to stifle, prevent, and kneecap "green" technology for the last century. The death of passenger rail and the stifling of the electric car for 30 years come to mind.