The Roaring 20’s v2.0?

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash

Are we about to head into another roaring 20’s like we did post-Spanish flu in 1918? There is a lot of speculation on this and candidly I’ve been skeptical. That changed for me recently.

We’ve been in the greatest economic expansion in the history of history. Instead of a massive crash we have just had this controlled burn tied to COVID and it’s coupled with the acceleration of digitization we couldn’t have gotten any other way. These two things plus one other ingredient are teeing us up for economic expansion like we have never seen before.

Ever so quietly, Starlink, brought to us by SpaceX, has been expanding its presence globally. Launch after launch, another 60+ satellites get put into low-earth orbit to provide high-speed Internet to the masses. The implications of this are massive as we’ll see another one quarter of the Earth’s population with access to high-speed Internet. Not only that, it won’t be governed by local municipalities meaning unfettered access to anything and everything. It will likely be outlawed in the world’s most notorious autocracies but it will be hard to tamp down.

I see post-COVID + Starlink as the recipe for one of the most insane economic expansions this planet has ever seen. The biggest question remaining is who will see the greatest benefit; will the masses get to share in this wealth or will it be a continuation of wealth transfer to the top 1% of the planet?