Boom for the Few
According to Forbes¹, Elon Musk is now considered the first person with a net worth of $500 billion. While Musk and the super-rich reach new heights, millions of Americans are struggling to survive. The economy that shines in the headlines is, in truth, a two-class system: record profits for some, a fight for existence for others.
A System of Financial Stagnation
Goldman Sachs² warns that 40 % of working Americans live paycheck to paycheck — a figure that could rise to 55 % by 2033. Another 40 % are barely making progress with already inadequate retirement savings. Altogether, around 80 % of Americans are financially stuck.
The cost of retirement has risen by an average of 4 % per year over the past 25 years³. By 2033, the average American will need $1.7 million to maintain their standard of living in retirement — a goal that remains out of reach for most.
The housing market worsens the problem: in 2000, homeownership consumed 33 % of income; today it’s 51 %⁴. The average first-time buyer was once 36 years old — today, 56. Two lost decades, during which earlier generations started families and built wealth.
The Media’s Shiny Facade
Turn on CNBC or Bloomberg, and you see glowing markets, rising GDP, and a “mere” 4.3 % unemployment rate⁵. But this is a mirage: anyone working even one hour per week is counted as employed. GDP growth increasingly comes from AI speculation and data centers, not from better jobs or higher wages.
Who benefits? Only the richest ten percent⁶.
The AI revolution is already replacing workers instead of empowering them. Programmers, analysts, and office employees are losing jobs — while corporate profits hit record highs⁷. In short: the economy is booming for the owners. For everyone else, it’s a slow financial bleed. 65 % of Americans feel financially strained⁸, and the Consumer Sentiment Index is lower than during the 2008–2009 financial crisis⁹.
A Two-Class Economy
The wealthy multiply their fortunes through stocks and real estate, while the middle class fights to stay afloat. Wealth is concentrated in financial assets and property — while debt keeps growing¹⁰. American households now hold financial assets worth six times their annual income — mostly in the hands of the rich — compared to 3.5 times in the 1950s.
More and more Americans are turning to crowdfunding just to buy groceries¹¹¹². What was once reserved for emergencies has become a daily survival tool. At the same time, the largest wealth transfer in history is underway: Baby Boomers are passing trillions to their heirs¹³, yet charitable giving has stagnated at 2 % of GDP¹⁴.
America doesn’t suffer from a lack of money — it suffers from a lack of fairness.
The AI Bubble: Algorithm Instead of Progress
The world is experiencing a new gold rush — this time fueled by algorithms and data centers. Billions are pouring into tech giants like Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google. Yet productivity gains remain elusive: 95 % of companies report no measurable benefit from AI⁷. The market celebrates potential, not reality — much like during the dot-com bubble.
The AI industry functions like a closed money loop: Microsoft invests in OpenAI, OpenAI buys cloud services from Microsoft, Nvidia invests, and OpenAI buys Nvidia chips. Money keeps changing hands without generating real growth. OpenAI posts multi-billion-dollar losses and holds obligations of $1.3 trillion.
Meanwhile, the “Magnificent Seven” — Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Google, and Tesla — now control over one-third of the S&P 500. Without them, growth would be virtually zero. If the euphoria fades, the system collapses. While billions flow into server farms, schools, housing, and infrastructure are left behind. Society pays the price: higher energy costs, job losses, and digital dependency.
Technological progress has turned into a form of techno-feudalism.
Conclusion: The AI economy resembles a global Ponzi scheme — illusion instead of progress. Without regulation, a crash looms — this time digitally encoded. Yet Palantir CEO Peter Thiel, the high priest of the total surveillance state, warns against regulation, calling it “the work of the Antichrist.” Irony? None detected.
Thinking Ahead Instead of Thinking in Quarters
During my recent trip through Xinjiang, I saw what “thinking ahead” truly means: China is turning deserts into farmland, building vast solar and wind farms, expanding hydropower, and constructing nuclear power plants across the country at record speed.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., electricity prices are exploding — not least because of the energy-hungry data centers of Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI. Energy is becoming the currency of the future: it keeps China’s industrial and AI operating costs low while eroding the West’s competitiveness.
China thinks in decades, America in quarters. Napoleon once said, “To govern is to foresee.” In Beijing, that’s state policy; in Washington and European capitals, it’s a long-forgotten virtue.