Tech Tycoons have Got the Economics of AI Wrong

Even as financial growth was simply removing, some economists were currently downhearted. Coal, composed William Stanley Jevons in 1865, is “the mainspring of modern product civilisation”. Yet it was limited and would quickly run out. Although more could be found by digging deeper, it would be progressively expensive to extract and these greater expenses would minimize the competitiveness of Britain’s makers. After all, in other countries the black fuel was still in sight of daylight. Efficiency gains-using less coal to produce the very same quantity of stuff-would not conserve the nation. Indeed, cleverer usage of minimal resources would merely provide a reward to burn a lot more coal, which would, paradoxically, result in an even much faster usage of British reserves. There was no escape, the Victorian economist thought. Coal would be tired and the nation was likely to “agreement to her former littleness”.

Explore more

This short article appeared in the Finance & economics area of the print edition under the heading “Rocked by DeepSeek”

Finance & economics February 1st 2025

Donald Trump’s economic warfare has a new front

Will America’s crypto frenzy end in catastrophe?

Don’t let Donald Trump see our Big Mac index

Giorgia Meloni has grand banking aspirations

Can Germany’s economy stage an unforeseen recovery?

Why your portfolio is less diversified than you might believe

Tech tycoons have got the economics of AI wrong

From the February 1st 2025 edition

Discover stories from this area and more in the list of contents

More from Finance & economics

Why your portfolio is less varied than you may think

The most important idea in modern-day financing has actually become maddeningly tough to carry out

Can Germany’s economy stage an unexpected recovery?

The is dire, but there are glimmers of hope

Giorgia Meloni has grand banking ambitions

Will Italy’s nationalist prime minister manage to focus financial power?

Donald Trump’s economic warfare has a brand-new front

The president has actually threatened to explode the international tax system. Will allies be able to stop him?