All Quotes

# economics — 40 quotes

ECONOMICS

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The cost of intelligence is going to drop to nearly zero. That changes everything about every industry on Earth.

disruptioneconomics— Sam Altman, keynote
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We've paid over $40 billion to rights holders. If artists aren't getting paid, the question isn't about Spotify — it's about the contracts between artists and their labels.

artistseconomics— Daniel Ek, responding to artist payment criticism, 2023
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YouTube, Spotify, Instagram — they all pay creators in pennies per view. Patreon pays in dollars per fan. Turns out fans are worth more than views.

creator-economyeconomics— Jack Conte, keynote 2022
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Mining lithium is expensive, environmentally destructive, and geopolitically complicated. Recycling it from old batteries is cheaper, cleaner, and keeps the supply chain domestic. The economics are obvious.

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You do not need an economics degree to understand the economy. You need curiosity and someone who will explain it without jargon.

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The economy is just vibes until someone puts a number on it. And even then, the vibes still matter more.

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We are in a vibecession — the data says the economy is fine but everyone feels like it is terrible. Feelings are economic indicators too.

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The Federal Reserve is basically a group of very smart people guessing about the future with slightly better data than the rest of us.

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People say direct air capture is too expensive. You know what is more expensive? Losing coastal cities to rising sea levels.

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I have spent my career trying to understand what drives prosperity and what destroys it. The answer is economic freedom.

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Ninety-five percent less water. Zero pesticides. Year-round production. The problem was never the technology. It was the electricity bill.

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Each scooter cost 500 dollars. It lasted about 28 days in the wild. People threw them in rivers. The unit economics never worked.

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Dirt and sunshine are free. LED lights and climate control are not. That is the entire challenge of indoor farming.

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Quick commerce in a low-cost city is a business. Quick commerce in a high-cost city is a charity funded by venture capital.

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The battery is made of iron and air. The raw materials cost almost nothing. That is the whole point.

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Profitability wasn't optional — it was survival. We had to prove food delivery economics work.

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Fashion rental is inevitable. The only question is whether we prove the economics before we run out of money.

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The bank charter lets us hold deposits and lend directly. That changes the economics completely.

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I believe in the free enterprise system. It has lifted more people out of poverty than any system in history.

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Every dollar of commission that an agent charges a seller is a dollar that doesn't go into their home equity.

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Buying, reconditioning, and delivering used cars costs more per unit than the margin on each sale.

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$1.3 billion raised to deliver groceries on bicycles. The math never worked.

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Real chicken, grown from cells, no animal slaughter. The science works. The economics are next.

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Ride-hailing might never make money. Electric vehicles definitely will. That's why we pivoted.

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Building a $100 million farm to grow $2 lettuce. The bet is that technology costs drop faster than investor patience runs out.

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$647 million to build houses in a factory. Turns out the factory works. The business model doesn't.

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We are in a transition from capital scarcity to attention scarcity. That changes everything about how economies work.

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Natural resources are the foundation of civilization. Every phone, every car, every wire starts with a mine.

commoditieseconomics— World Economic Forum panel, 2019, 2019
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I found a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.

economicshumility— US Congressional Testimony, October 2008, 2008
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The history of economic progress is a history of creative destruction. The question is always: who bears the cost of the disruption?

disruptioneconomics— American Enterprise Institute lecture, 2010, 2010
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I have played in Russia, Turkey, and Spain in the off-season for twenty years. That is not a travel story. That is the economic reality of women's basketball.

economicssport— Interview with The Athletic, 2020, 2020
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Bitcoin is the best form of money humanity has ever created. Fiat currencies are government IOUs that lose value every single year.

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An autonomous truck can drive 20 hours a day. A human driver is legally limited to 11. The math is not complicated.

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A human delivery driver costs $7 per delivery. Our robot costs a fraction of that. The math is why we exist.

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Last-mile delivery costs more than the food. A robot that costs pennies per delivery changes the entire equation.

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Our robots cost $2,500 to build. Competitors spend $40,000. We deploy five robots for the price of one.

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Studios get less per visit through ClassPass than walk-ins. But an empty spot earns zero. We fill the seats that would otherwise be wasted.

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Women are half the population. An economy that ignores half its talent is an economy working at half capacity.

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People buy much more according to the evolution of their wealth than according to the evolution of national income.

customerseconomics— Hermès Annual General Meeting, 2026
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Cheaper energy and cheaper food lift more people out of poverty than any government program ever has.

abundanceeconomics— All-In Podcast, 2022