Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”Me: “Yup.”Student: “How did he get that much money?”Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash.
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@MaddieM4 @huntingdon @nswigger I still remember taking Econ 101 in college and being shocked by 1) how easy it was and 2) how obviously fake (disconnected from reality) the models were.
@lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger Exactly. Spherical cows are totally fine for physics, most of the time, but dangerously misleading if you try to model like that for biology or veterinary science. The more I've learned about Econ, the more it's felt like the latter.
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@MaddieM4 @huntingdon @nswigger we do occasionally get economists like Elinor Ostrom who do cool things like formalize how to prevent abuse of commons. The good ones are exceptionally rare, though.
@ansuz @huntingdon @nswigger I should do some research on her! She sounds fascinating.
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger Would you take Elder Millennial can't understand #NASDAQ Mega-cap valuation and expedited #IPO of $1.75 trillion when the company has had a negative net revenue in the billions of dollars for 2 of the last 3 years (Page 21).
2025 it lost $4.9 Billion and in 2023 they lost $4.6 BillionSource:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026036936/spaceexplorationtechnologi.htm -
@huntingdon @nswigger as I've gotten older and been exposed to more of the world, it's become impossible to see economists as anything more than bootlickers for whichever powerful status quo needs a pseudoscientific veneer of validation this decade (the concept of "revealed preferences" is about as damning for their field as "oppositional defiant disorder" is for psychiatry).
Unfortunately, you can't really say that kind of thing at an average cocktail party without sounding like one of those people who drinks their own urine and thinks 5G puts a chip in your head. But we're slowly getting to a place of deserved skepticism for fields that have long played fast and loose with academic rigor.
Anyways, the Economist is a hilarious example of exactly the material you'd expect, from people who would name themselves "the Economist" without a hint of self-awareness or irony.
@MaddieM4 @huntingdon @nswigger I think it's critical to follow the money. Almost all the pro-oligarchy economists are, surprise, paid by oligarchs (directly or indirectly). So the ideas they produce become entirely unsurprising.
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@lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger Exactly. Spherical cows are totally fine for physics, most of the time, but dangerously misleading if you try to model like that for biology or veterinary science. The more I've learned about Econ, the more it's felt like the latter.
@MaddieM4 @lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger Given his pervasive presence in the headlines, and the disconnect between his performance as a businessman and his ever-expanding wealth, I'm forced to conclude that Elon Musk is a spherical cow.
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@MaddieM4 @huntingdon @nswigger I think it's critical to follow the money. Almost all the pro-oligarchy economists are, surprise, paid by oligarchs (directly or indirectly). So the ideas they produce become entirely unsurprising.
@dirtside @huntingdon @nswigger Indeed. And unfortunately, there's very little path to supporting yourself financially as an economist *other than* the pro-oligarchy path.
It's very much like the dilemma of scientists who are paid to do studies by Big Agriculture - employers who will throw out any result that doesn't align with "a little Roundup ingestion never hurt anybody." Food science is interesting, and it's really important! We need to be making enough food for everyone, and for that food to be nutritious and non-harmful. There's so many reasons to study that field and try to get a job in it. It sucks that the invisible hand is reticent to pay for food science outside the business interest domain.
Economics is in a similar position but with even *less* opportunity for non-sycophantic roles.
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@MaddieM4 @lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger Given his pervasive presence in the headlines, and the disconnect between his performance as a businessman and his ever-expanding wealth, I'm forced to conclude that Elon Musk is a spherical cow.
@Steve @lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger That _would_ explain where he gets all the methane for the portable gas generators at his AI datacenters, wouldn't it...
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@ansuz @huntingdon @nswigger I should do some research on her! She sounds fascinating.
@MaddieM4 @huntingdon @nswigger I'm only familiar with her work at a very high level, but I'd definitely like to find time to read her research directly
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@nswigger nitpick: Elon Musk is the only billionaire. Everyone else claiming to be a billionaire is only a milliardaire.
I thought this battle was lost in the 1980s, but recent self-immolation by the country that foisted the incorrect definition of billion on the rest of us has encouraged me to revive it. -
Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger "How did he get that much money?" by basically being a parasite on the rest of the S&P 500
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@huntingdon @nswigger as I've gotten older and been exposed to more of the world, it's become impossible to see economists as anything more than bootlickers for whichever powerful status quo needs a pseudoscientific veneer of validation this decade (the concept of "revealed preferences" is about as damning for their field as "oppositional defiant disorder" is for psychiatry).
Unfortunately, you can't really say that kind of thing at an average cocktail party without sounding like one of those people who drinks their own urine and thinks 5G puts a chip in your head. But we're slowly getting to a place of deserved skepticism for fields that have long played fast and loose with academic rigor.
Anyways, the Economist is a hilarious example of exactly the material you'd expect, from people who would name themselves "the Economist" without a hint of self-awareness or irony.
@MaddieM4 @huntingdon @nswigger You are even kinder than I would be at that cocktail party, because I would be mentioning that reading tea leaves has more science than some economic theories
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@TheTenuousOrder @nswigger Elder GenXer, ackchewally.
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger IMHO all profits and assets that one can get a loan against or use as collateral should be taxed like wagework income, if not higher!
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
Maybe the student can understand why I call it the "greater fool market" instead of the "stock market".
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@lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger Exactly. Spherical cows are totally fine for physics, most of the time, but dangerously misleading if you try to model like that for biology or veterinary science. The more I've learned about Econ, the more it's felt like the latter.
@MaddieM4 @lauerhahn @huntingdon @nswigger
We need to stop basing economic measures on the statement of income and expenses and base them on the balance sheet instead.
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger Tesla made $2.8 billion in 2025.
Star Link made about $8 billion.
Spacex is the only loser, even with the $8 billion star link made it lost $5 billion, mostly because their AI division apparently is a bottomless hole.
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger
By the way, Gen X does so, too. We are just used to getting fucked over by... like everyone. -
Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger I'm "Cash burn rate" KPI of year 2000 old
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger Not to let facts get in the way of your lols but in 6/2020 Tesla became profitable after four consecutive quarters in the black.
Yes, Elon is an asshole and a huge disappointment but there would be no US EV industry without the pressure #tesla put on legacy manufacturers
I know I know buses and bicycles, I use them frequently but the majority of Americans never will but are more likely to drive an #ev
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Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
