1920, 2020s and the Perma-Bulls
"We live in interesting, though not unprecedented, times. The Roaring 1920s could be a precedent for the Roaring 2020s."The good news is that the bad news during the previous precedent was followed by the Roaring 20s. So far, the 2020s has started with the pandemic, but there are plenty of years left for the prosperous 1920s to become a precedent for the current decade."The 1920s ended with a stock-market melt-up followed by a meltdown. The 2020s may already be seeing a melt-up, begun on March 23."
"Today's doomsters could be confounded by biotechnological innovations that deliver not only a vaccine for Covid-19 but for all coronaviruses...The awesome range of futuristic "BRAIN" technological innovations includes biotechnology, robotics and automation, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology. There are also significant innovations underway in 5G for cellular networks, 3-D manufacturing, electric vehicles, battery storage, blockchain, and quantum and edge computing."
"The economic revolution of 1870-1970 was unique in human history, unrepeatable because so many of its achievements could happen only once...the revolutionary century after the Civil War was made possible by a unique clustering, in the late-19th century, of what we will call the 'Great Inventions'...What makes the period 1870-1970 so special is that these inventions cannot be repeated."
"Whether we look at transportation, energy, commodity production, food production – that with the exception of computers, we've had tremendous slowdown."We wanted flying cars. Instead, we got 140 characters."
"Yesteryear's great inventions were far more...social...than today's."The innovations in the early 1900s put increasing numbers of people to work. Those increases in jobs led to higher wages and more robust economic growth. Today, companies are spending moneyon innovation and technology to increase productivity, reduce employment, and suppress wage pressures."