Topic: Tech Tycoons have actually Got the Economics of AI Wrong
Even as economic development was just taking off, some financial experts were already 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 might be discovered by digging deeper, it would be significantly pricey to extract and these higher expenses would decrease the competitiveness of Britain's manufacturers. After all, in other nations the black fuel was still in sight of daytime. Efficiency gains-using less coal to produce the exact same amount of stuff-would not save the nation. Indeed, cleverer usage of limited resources would just provide an incentive to burn a lot more coal, which would, paradoxically, cause an even much faster use of British reserves. There was no escape, the Victorian economist believed. Coal would be tired and the nation was most likely to "contract to her former littleness".
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This post appeared in the Finance & economics area of the print edition under the headline "Rocked by DeepSeek"
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Tech tycoons have got the economics of AI incorrect
From the February 1st 2025 edition
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