Post #3791 by tjscott0 on the Macroeconomic Trends and Risks board

Personal Finance Topics / Macroeconomic Trends and Risks

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/opinion/ai-weal...
We Are Witnessing the Rise of a New Aristocracy

2 take aways:
1) Inequality is such a fact of American life that it’s easy to shrug off. But we are in uncharted terrain. The amassed wealth of today’s tech titans makes the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts look quaint. Over the past two years, 19 households have added $1.8 trillion to their coffers, the economist Gabriel Zucman told me — roughly the size of the economy of Australia.

*For any society in which this much wealth gets concentrated in so few hands, and is then so easily parlayed into political clout, the question becomes one not just of economics but of basic civic standing. At some point soon, we are no longer sharing in self-government.

AI will facilitate a repressive surveillance and security state to keep the plebes on a leash.

2) In truth, whether A.I. will lead to widespread job loss remains guesswork.

The author speculates & offers opinions of others. But in essence #2 remains guesswork.

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*For any society in which this much wealth gets concentrated in so few hands,

The openly stated objective of "supply side economics" was to concentrate wealth. Probably decades ago, now, I saw an interview with supply side advocate Jack Kemp. He clearly stated words to the effect "the rich do all the saving and investing, so they should have all the money...blabber...blabber...capital formation'.

Used to be that banks were the capital aggregators. Now, it's the "JCs".

Steve

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