RegularGuyEveryDollarBorrowed John Flynn (00:01.454)
Regular economics is sponsored by DiscoverCard. When we say it’s accepted at 99.9 % of places where cards are accepted, we do acknowledge that it’s not currently accepted on the moon. I’m John Flynn from the Discover Studios. When Forbes Magazine publishes the Forbes 400, it gives us in America inspiration that one of our neighbors, or even one of us, will helicopter to work one day soon. But money is not evidence of wealth. Every dollar, everywhere is borrowed. as you’ll hear after this.
Elon Musk suggests “the first trillionaire will probably come from space resources or AI” This kind of makes sense coming from a man who has investments in space, resources and AI. The interesting thing is that if Musk sells the assets that allow him to claim the title and opens a savings account at his local bank to deposit it, somewhere in the world, a sad and sorry group of people will owe a trillion dollars and have no assets to show for it.
The paradox is money can only come into existence when it is borrowed. So having it in your bank means someone borrowed it from another bank. That’s the key of central banks. Since all money, which is the way barter is resolved in the real world, is borrowed, the bankers are partners in every single transaction across our GDP. When you begin layering the middlemen, who have stuck their fuller brush man feed into doors all over the world, it would not be surprising if 20 % or more of the G in GDP
goes to that small group of oligarchs and technocrats, winners of the money lottery. The people who would be guaranteed a fair share in the economic constructs of Adam Smith or Karl Marx have been slivered out little by little. The amount of money that President Reagan referred to as trickle-down leaves citizens more more thirsty. The haves are pretty close to having it all, and when the Davos government leaders told you that you will own nothing and be happy, they didn’t mean the happy part.
but have been taking more and more of the money so nothing is closer than you think. Think about that one. Money will never be the same. For Regular Guy Economics, I’m John Flynn.