Welcome to Flush-Down Economics
How startup and tech splurging has changed America
If the 1980s saw the advent of trickle-down economics, the 2020s are witnessing the dawn of flush-down economics. As the coronavirus crisis is making clear, Americans are becoming more dependent on freebies subsidized by venture capitalists and investors. If you’re using Zoom for free, if you have a free subscription to Disney+, or if you’re getting “free” delivery from DoorDash, then you are the beneficiary of flush-down economics. What was once the quaint over-spending by so-called unicorns, such as Uber, Lyft, and WeWork, has now become a way of life.
So far, flush-down economics has been a barely noticeable lifestyle boost. It has manifested, for example, in random discounted rides from Lyft and Uber; it has meant an under-enforcement of account-sharing by streaming services like Netflix or Spotify. When retrospectives of the 2010s arrive, they’ll inevitably play scenes of scooters clogging up city sidewalks. Pangs of nostalgia will greet Americans as they reminisce of the simpler, pre-coronavirus days when our biggest concern was Silicon Valley using American streets as a focus test for mobility products. But in 2020 and beyond, we can only expect to see these products and services grow exponentially.
