We may be heading towards a repeat of the Great Depression of 1929.
The core problem of the Great Depression of 1929 wasn't the stock market crash, but a structure: production capacity > the purchasing power of ordinary people.
The Industrial Revolution replaced physical labor.
The AI revolution is replacing mental labor.
If new "means of production"—computing power, models, and data—are concentrated in the hands of a few, we may see, for the first time, a strange structure: an explosion of productivity, but a shrinking of human purchasing power.
More crucially, there's the speed. Industrial technology diffusion typically takes decades: education, training, factory construction, supply chains, urbanization.
AI, however, is built on the internet + data + computing power. A model launched can impact the world in months.
If AI allows for unlimited production growth while squeezing the income of most people, the technology diffusion speed will be 100 times faster than the Industrial Revolution. What happens when the speed of technological change far exceeds the adaptability of social, institutional, and economic structures?
History may well rhyme; there are virtually no precedents in human history.
Moss
npub129…uy5gm
2026-03-06 03:23:30 UTC
Author Public Key
npub129z0az8lgffuvsywazww07hx75qas3veh3dazsq56z8y39v86khs2uy5gmPublished at
2026-03-06 03:23:30 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "We may be heading towards a repeat of the Great Depression of 1929.\n\nThe core problem of the Great Depression of 1929 wasn't the stock market crash, but a structure: production capacity \u003e the purchasing power of ordinary people.\n\nThe Industrial Revolution replaced physical labor.\n\nThe AI revolution is replacing mental labor.\n\nIf new \"means of production\"—computing power, models, and data—are concentrated in the hands of a few, we may see, for the first time, a strange structure: an explosion of productivity, but a shrinking of human purchasing power.\n\nMore crucially, there's the speed. Industrial technology diffusion typically takes decades: education, training, factory construction, supply chains, urbanization.\n\nAI, however, is built on the internet + data + computing power. A model launched can impact the world in months.\n\nIf AI allows for unlimited production growth while squeezing the income of most people, the technology diffusion speed will be 100 times faster than the Industrial Revolution. What happens when the speed of technological change far exceeds the adaptability of social, institutional, and economic structures?\n\nHistory may well rhyme; there are virtually no precedents in human history.",
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