Growth Is Coming — But Wealth Will Be Harder to Capture
Another global boom is forming.
It will not look like the internet revolution.
It will not feel like the post-war expansion.
It will not distribute wealth the way past cycles did.
But it will be enormous.
Artificial intelligence, energy transition, defense spending, biotech, and automation are pulling trillions into motion. Governments know it. Markets know it. Corporations are already positioning.
And yet, this boom carries a paradox:
It will generate historic growth—while producing fewer new millionaires.
Past Booms Rewarded Participation
Earlier economic expansions shared upside broadly.
If you showed up early:
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You got stock options
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You gained job security
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You accumulated assets alongside growth
Participation itself had value.
Being inside the system was enough.
This Boom Rewards Position, Not Effort
Today’s growth engines are different.
They depend on:
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Compute ownership
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Data control
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Regulatory alignment
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Capital intensity
These are not skills you can simply learn.
They are positions you must already hold.
This boom rewards control, not contribution.
Technology Has Broken the Wage-Growth Link
For decades, productivity and wages moved together.
That link is gone.
Technology now scales without sharing gains.
AI replaces tasks without negotiating.
Automation increases output without expanding payrolls.
Growth no longer requires human prosperity.
The Rise of High-Income Fragility
Many people will earn more in absolute terms.
But:
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Asset prices will rise faster
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Stability will decline
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Long-term security will weaken
This creates a dangerous illusion: earning well while falling behind structurally.
High income without ownership is fragile.
The Shrinking Middle of Wealth Creation
The middle class was built on a simple formula:
Work → Save → Own → Grow
That formula is breaking.
Ownership is becoming harder.
Savings lose power.
Growth is captured elsewhere.
The result is polarization—not just of income, but of economic trajectory.
Why This Boom Will Still Be Celebrated
Markets will cheer.
Headlines will praise innovation.
Governments will celebrate GDP.
And yet, many individuals will quietly feel poorer—not in lifestyle, but in future leverage.
Growth Without Access Is Not Progress
A system can grow while becoming less fair.
It can innovate while narrowing outcomes.
It can expand while excluding participants.
That is the risk of the coming boom.
The Real Question of the Decade
The next boom is inevitable.
The real question is:
Who is structurally positioned to capture it?
Because growth without access does not build societies.
It builds hierarchies.
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