Post-2008 low interest rates rerouted surplus capital into a tech boom
Evidence
Where is the money coming from? Broadly speaking, it is surplus capital seeking higher rates of return in a low interest rate environment. The low interest rates have depressed the returns on traditional financial investments, forcing investors to seek out new avenues for yield. Rather than a finance boom or a housing boom, surplus capital today appears to be building a technology boom. — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 74
Categorization
- XREF: This causal account of the tech boom driven by low interest rates is the macro-financial explanation Zuboff largely omits — a key structural difference between the two frameworks worth emphasizing. — connects to: Technology results from capital’s development, not the reverse; Surplus capital seizes low-cost assets and converts them to profit — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 314; Cheap credit migrated from the dot-com bubble to the housing bubble — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media: How Wall Street…, 83 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Technology results from capital’s development, not the reverse
#exemplifies(0.80) - Cheap credit migrated from the dot-com bubble to the housing bubble
#qualifies(0.80) — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 83 - Surplus capital seizes low-cost assets and converts them to profit
#expands(0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 314 - Tech wealth converted even failing projects into windfalls for the well connected
#expands(0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 516