Chamath

Yeah, if the economy is hot, why wouldn't you tiptoe into rate cuts and just do 25 now?

And I think so much of this has to do with unemployment. We had that period where so many jobs were available. Remember, we talked about it here, 11, 12 million jobs available at the peak. We can debate the numbers, of course, but we all saw it where you just couldn't hire talent in America. There was so few people available to take positions. And man, has that changed.

And I think so much of this has to do with unemployment. We had that period where so many jobs were available. Remember, we talked about it here, 11, 12 million jobs available at the peak. We can debate the numbers, of course, but we all saw it where you just couldn't hire talent in America. There was so few people available to take positions. And man, has that changed.

And you get to see it on the ground in early stage startups where This whole narrative, I don't know if you saw it in your board meetings, but hey, we can't find a person. Hey, we're looking. Hey, that search is still going. We're still looking for a director of sales. We're still looking for salespeople. We're still looking for developers. We're still looking for operations people.

And you get to see it on the ground in early stage startups where This whole narrative, I don't know if you saw it in your board meetings, but hey, we can't find a person. Hey, we're looking. Hey, that search is still going. We're still looking for a director of sales. We're still looking for salespeople. We're still looking for developers. We're still looking for operations people.

Now it's the opposite. It's like, I just, I'm hiring producers here in Austin because I'm building my in-person studio. We had like... I don't know, a dozen viable candidates for this position. And I had a hard time picking between, you know, the top three. Now, that's distinctly different than my experience for the last five to 10 years, where you were like, how do we fill this role?

Now it's the opposite. It's like, I just, I'm hiring producers here in Austin because I'm building my in-person studio. We had like... I don't know, a dozen viable candidates for this position. And I had a hard time picking between, you know, the top three. Now, that's distinctly different than my experience for the last five to 10 years, where you were like, how do we fill this role?

So I think that employment has been broken. And that's the thing that has me concerned, because with all these people who came in through the southern border, and then you have people outsourcing to other countries, I wonder if Americans... are going to lose so many of these mid-paying jobs. And this will dovetail into our next story about Amazon making cuts.

So I think that employment has been broken. And that's the thing that has me concerned, because with all these people who came in through the southern border, and then you have people outsourcing to other countries, I wonder if Americans... are going to lose so many of these mid-paying jobs. And this will dovetail into our next story about Amazon making cuts.

I'm very worried about the hollowing out of the upper middle class, that elite group of $150,000 jobs that then employ nannies and spend money in the economy. I wonder, I don't know if you're seeing that in your company, Sachs?

I'm very worried about the hollowing out of the upper middle class, that elite group of $150,000 jobs that then employ nannies and spend money in the economy. I wonder, I don't know if you're seeing that in your company, Sachs?

I'm not worried about the hollowing out of that class.

I'm not worried about the hollowing out of that class.

You have disdain for them. But I mean, just in terms of the labor market, what do you see, you know, in companies right now, you know, hiring the talent pool, et cetera?

You have disdain for them. But I mean, just in terms of the labor market, what do you see, you know, in companies right now, you know, hiring the talent pool, et cetera?

Well, I mean, in tech, things are pretty good. I mean, they're not as absurdly frothy as they were during the bubble of 2020 and 2021, but things are good. You have this huge AI tailwind now, and there's just a ton of investment going into AI. There's a little bit of a tale of two cities going on. If you're in AI, things are really bubbly.

Well, I mean, in tech, things are pretty good. I mean, they're not as absurdly frothy as they were during the bubble of 2020 and 2021, but things are good. You have this huge AI tailwind now, and there's just a ton of investment going into AI. There's a little bit of a tale of two cities going on. If you're in AI, things are really bubbly.

And if you're outside AI, they've returned to much more normal levels in terms of valuation and company operations, all that kind of stuff. Just to go back to the state of the economy for a second, the reason why a lot of people were predicting a recession, including me for a while, is that the yield curve inverting has been an almost perfect gauge of whether a recession is coming.

And if you're outside AI, they've returned to much more normal levels in terms of valuation and company operations, all that kind of stuff. Just to go back to the state of the economy for a second, the reason why a lot of people were predicting a recession, including me for a while, is that the yield curve inverting has been an almost perfect gauge of whether a recession is coming.

It's when basically the Fed raises short-term interest rates above long-term interest rates. Normally, long rates are the ones that should be higher because investors demand a higher rate of return to tie up their money for longer. So something's really