Mike McCready

Tag: finance

  • After Late-Stage Capitalism: Where Do We Go From Here?

    After Late-Stage Capitalism: Where Do We Go From Here?

    You don’t need a PhD in economics to feel that something’s off.

    Groceries cost more, jobs feel more fragile, housing looks like a luxury product, and half the tech CEOs sound like they’re pitching a video game plot instead of running real-world companies. Meanwhile, billionaires are racing each other to space while your rent races you into a corner.

    This is what people mean when they talk about late-stage capitalism. It’s not an end date on a calendar. It’s a mood. A vibe. A phase in the life cycle of an economic system that feels increasingly disconnected from reality.

    So What Is Late-Stage Capitalism, Really?

    It’s the point in a system’s evolution where:

    • Markets are no longer free, just engineered
    • Wages stagnate while productivity and profits soar
    • Basic needs become “subscription services”
    • Work is precarious, but shareholders are thrilled
    • Governments serve markets instead of citizens
    • Every crisis gets monetized—healthcare, climate, war, education

    It’s Uber drivers with master’s degrees. Teachers driving DoorDash. People crowdfunding insulin while the stock market hits record highs. It’s burnout, hustle, and “grindset” culture masquerading as freedom. It’s a society that treats rest like laziness and wealth like morality.

    In short: it’s the moment when the system stops pretending it’s for everyone.

    So What Comes Next?

    That’s the question. And we’re all going to have to answer it—whether we want to or not. Because systems don’t last forever. They evolve. They collapse. They mutate. Or, sometimes, they’re dragged kicking and screaming into something new.

    Here are five directions we might be headed:

    1. State Capitalism

    Same market, new driver.

    In this version, governments take a more active role—not to help you, but to strategically control markets. Think China’s model: heavy surveillance, controlled growth, and national champions in tech and energy. Markets are tools, not ideals.

    Upside: Infrastructure might actually get built.
    Downside: Dissent gets a lot more expensive.

    2. Technocratic Feudalism

    You’ll own nothing—and still pay monthly fees.

    Imagine a future where democracy erodes, but Amazon has great customer service. Where mega-corporations are the de facto governments, and your social credit score determines what you can access.

    Think: smart homes, dumb laws, and “Terms of Service” that rule your life.

    Upside: Efficiency. Innovation. Personalized everything.
    Downside: No exit button. No real power.

    3. Eco-Social Capitalism

    Capitalism with a conscience—and a carbon cap.

    This is the idealists’ version: a restructured economy that prioritizes sustainability, equity, and long-term thinking. Maybe we get universal basic income. Maybe we regulate tech. Maybe we stop treating the planet like an ATM.

    Upside: Human dignity. Ecological survival.
    Downside: Short-term disruption. Lots of angry billionaires.

    4. Decentralized Utopia

    Crypto, co-ops, and code-based governance.

    This one’s for the web3 dreamers. Power moves from central institutions to decentralized networks. DAOs replace corporations. You vote with tokens, earn through participation, and store your wealth outside the banks.

    Upside: Radical autonomy and transparency.
    Downside: Scams, fragmentation, and the occasional rug pull.

    5. Collapse or Authoritarianism

    When the lights flicker and the flags get darker.

    Not the feel-good option, but one we can’t ignore. If inequality keeps widening, climate shocks intensify, and trust erodes further, we could see the rise of hard borders, strongmen, and failing institutions.

    Upside: None.
    Downside: All of them.

    What Do You Want to Come Next?

    This isn’t just an academic exercise. What comes after late-stage capitalism depends on us. On the stories we tell, the systems we build, and the power we choose to either accept or reject.

    You don’t have to be a policy wonk to start imagining alternatives. You just have to look at the world around you and ask: Is this working? And if it’s not, what would?

    Because the next chapter is being written right now—by corporations, by governments, by you, and by me. And the question isn’t just what comes next.

    It’s who gets to decide.

  • How the Wealthy Control Assets and Impact the Economy

    How the Wealthy Control Assets and Impact the Economy

    When the wealthy have money, they don’t just let it sit in a bank account collecting dust. They use it to buy real assets—houses, office buildings, stocks, businesses, art, yachts, and even sports teams. The more they buy, the more the prices of those assets rise, making it harder for middle and working-class people to afford them. Instead of owning, more and more people end up renting these things back from the wealthy, which just makes the rich even richer.

    This is how wealth keeps getting concentrated at the top and the way trickle-down economics failed us. The U.S. and much of the Western world haven’t seen this level of wealth inequality since the 1920s. Back then, the wealth gap was a major factor that led to the Great Depression. We’re seeing the same trend today, and if we don’t do something about it, most Americans will experience lower living standards in the future. That’s why so many younger people have lost faith in the American Dream—they just don’t see a realistic path to financial security, homeownership, or upward mobility.

    The only reasonable way to fix this is by taxing the wealthy and using that money to invest in our country’s future. We need better public education, greater access to healthcare, and major investments in infrastructure. These things would directly improve people’s lives and address the growing frustration of those who feel left behind by globalization and the extreme concentration of wealth. Right now, the top 1% controls about 31% of the total wealth in the U.S., while the bottom 50% has just 2.6%. That’s not a functioning economy—it’s a system rigged to benefit the few at the expense of the many.

    Trump’s budget proposal does absolutely nothing to address these problems. Instead, it doubles down on the same failed trickle-down policies we’ve seen before: cutting spending on social programs, borrowing even more money to run up the national debt, and handing out massive tax breaks to the ultra-rich and corporations. Nothing in this plan lowers the cost of housing. Nothing makes groceries more affordable. Nothing helps raise wages or improve the standard of living for working Americans.

    If we keep going down this road, we’re only going to see more of the same—an economy where the wealthy hoard more and more, while everyone else struggles to get by. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose policies that actually invest in people and create opportunities for everyone, not just the privileged few. The question is whether we have the political will to do it.