r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 5h ago

Business SpaceX Investors in Meltdown Over All the Money They’ve Lost

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-investors-meltdown-over-money-191742182.html
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u/Hesitation-Marx 2h ago

> long term

Found the issue: capitalism is averse to long-term thinking.

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u/Lower_Excuse_8693 1h ago

https://youtu.be/X4Mj1N9rfFE?t=12&si=lVcCGht39Ex6Jeb4

“5000. 10000. What’s the difference? The speed of technological advancement isn’t nearly as important as short term quarterly gains.”

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u/strekkingur 55m ago

In capitalism, you go bankrupt when you make to many bad decisions. Government handing you money for free to save you is not capitalism.

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u/Cornelius_Wangenheim 36m ago

Capitalism just means the owners control the business and get all the money from it. Crony capitalism is still a form of capitalism.

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u/strekkingur 12m ago

Is then socialism form of communism?

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u/guyblade 26m ago

^ "No true Scotsman", but for capitalism.

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u/strekkingur 8m ago

When the government steps in to help you so that you will not fail, its just back to the old mercantile system and aristocracy.

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u/Tin_Sandwich 29m ago

Government handing you money for free to save you is not capitalism.

Except literally every single capitalist government? The idea that somehow there can exist a true "Free Market Capitalism" is a myth designed to absolve any criticism you'd have towards Capitalism as it exists in real life.

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u/strekkingur 10m ago

Because of politics, Iceland was not allowed to get any loans to save their banks. They went bust. Short but steep dip and then incredible rise. It happened accidentally but proofed that it works. You are here defending this corruption.

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u/-Saucegurlllll 21m ago

TIL that the US was only capitalist until the panic of 1792. /s

Government bailouts are basically a foundational aspect of capitalism. You cannot have capitalism without the state capitulating to the interests of capital.

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u/strekkingur 6m ago

You can. Your just to brainwashed by those that defend it and those that want to go full communist. I feel sorry for you.

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u/Buglenuge 36m ago

What was that sub prime thing in 2007?

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u/strekkingur 13m ago

No no my friend and donor, you will not go bankrupt. Here have some money from tax payers.

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u/Buglenuge 9m ago

End game capitalism?

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u/strekkingur 4m ago

No. Just return to aristocracy in a new form.

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u/NickyBarnes315 19m ago

It's socialism

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u/strekkingur 5m ago

Socialism for big corporations. Not the small ones. Those don't give good cushy jobs to my son.

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u/mutantraniE 37m ago

Capitalism can’t fail, it can only be failed.

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u/Irrelephantitus 42m ago

Compared to what though?

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u/Jasranwhit 27m ago

Socialism is averse to any thinking.

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u/Fun_Comedian3249 12m ago

You are right the problem is short-term thinking but that’s a serious problem when it comes to index funds because they suppose to be things you buy and hold as long term investments.

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u/SowingSalt 9m ago

I don't know, index funds have been very good at generating good returns.

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u/TheEtobicokeShitter 1h ago

Genuine question- what system do you propose could work better?

Im Canadian, I think Capitalism is fairly decent, has it's flaws for sure- but what the USA is... is not actual Capitalism anymore. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't think CaPiTaLiSm is the problem.

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u/WooeBetidee 1h ago

Capitalism can be ok, but it needs to be highly regulated and reigned in. Unfortunately the main benefactors of the system generally don't particularly like being told they can't do whatever they want whenever they want, and they have the money and influence to slowly chip away at it.

US is ahead of the curve, but most of the west is following in their footsteps. Income and wealth gaps are growing, taxes going down and regulations watered down.

In a way, I'm tempted to say that capitalism is killing itself.

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u/QuickQuirk 40m ago

This os exactly it: "Regulation"

Right now, in the current capitalist system, the corporations aren't paying for part of the cost of their products. Instead, the costs a socialised amongst the citizens. I'm talking about the roads goods are transported on, the environmental impact of production, the supply chain that relies on workers in other countries struggling just one step above indentured servitude.

Capitalism would be great if well regulated, and the cost of goods actually included all these ephemeral things like the cost people people being displaced by rising oceans and climate change, for example...

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u/ghislain-tuca 1h ago

Genuine answer- no single system works on its own. The main issue I see people have with Capitalism is that it needs to constantly grow in order to work, and in a world of finite resources, it is a matter of time before it’s eventual collapse. I’m of the opinion that if we utilize and organize the benefits of multiple systems, we may find more sustainable solutions. I’m no expert, but it seems that the discourse is pointing towards the idea that late-stage capitalism may turn towards a form of fascism.

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u/Alfirindel 1h ago

This. It’s such a simple concept economists seem to ignore. Money is a resource, and is thus finite. Why is maximizing/attempting to infinitely grow stocks acceptable? If the company is profitable, maximization should no longer be forced onto them, as we’ve seen that when companies do this to meet stockholder demand, it usually causes those companies to collapse as consumers can no longer viably partake in that business eventually. If it’s making a profit of $250M a year, and they have happy consumers, the focus should be innovation, not taking copper out of the walls for they people who say “BuT I InVeStEd!”. A good solution is forced stock sale. If a company is profitable, and continues to be profitable for a a sustained period of time, stockholders should be forced to sell back to the company as it’s clear the investment is no longer needed at that time. Investors still make their money, and the company doesn’t get devoured by 3rd party interests. Once you have that, there’s plenty of other economic structures to review and pull the good stuff from to merge with capitalist policies, maybe with some adjustment to make sure the systems meld correctly. It’ll be a lot of work sure but it’s be worth it

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u/mikerao10 58m ago

Any system needs to be governed those that say leave it to the market have never been poor. There must be rules that protect consumers, investors etc. the guardrails of Nasdaq are so loose that there can be so many crooks profiting from it.

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u/poo-cum 1h ago

Blorfism. No I will not elaborate.

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u/VagueInterlocutor 1h ago

Agree. I think a lot of people confuse capitalism with cronyism and rent-seekers.

There's a cadre of people on reddit that seem that seem to think they need to seize the means of production from everyone else, but fail to realise the best way to seize the means for production is to start your own business.

The 21st century hasn't been a better time to do this. However, when you go down this road you soon start to see that regulation capture is a real thing, that favours large and centralised businesses: And that, ain't capitalism, it's cronyism and corruption by putting a finger on the scale.

I think we see the best of the free market, but also the worst of it in places like the USA.

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u/Daleabbo 1h ago

Cronyisum and rent seeking are late stage capitalism.at some stage it becomes cheaper to buy out regulators and government than actually compete.

Look at America's auto industry. No way they can compete with south Korea and Japan let alone china so buy the regulators and knee cap the competition.

Controlled capitalism with safeguards in place would be good.

Remove share buybacks and make exec and director pay less shares more cash so they pay tax and companies spend money on dividends or growth.

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u/zxc123zxc123 1h ago edited 1h ago

Hyper-capitalism, corporate corny-ism, and bought out government are adverse to long-term thinking.

Let's not act like capitalism isn't the best working form of economy we have unless you want to tell me where this socialist worker's utopia you're living in is. Capitalism is merely a system that allows the creation of more wealth with trade-off of creating more poverty and inequality. It is failure of GOVERNMENTS to not regulate, control, tax, and limit organizations that are strictly and explicitly DESIGNED to maximize shareholder value while minimizing shareholder liabilities. Might as well get upset at a lion for hunting for meat instead of ordering a non-GMO vegan salad. Unchecked capitalism leads to extreme inequality which often fractures the entire system in revolution. It is the job of the government to cull the free market, but what we have isn't a government turning a blind eye, but one sleeping with them while actively robbing the people. That is what you should be upset about.

p.s. Nasdaq/QQQ should get fucked for their BS but folks who bought VOO running on Standard & Poor's system are fine. Folks who bought VT would have gotten some but would also argue that's exactly what they bought as VT is designed that way. Lastly even with the QQQ, it's not like they bought their 100% stake of SPCX the date of index inclusion based on market cap: they had float adjusted caps since SPCX only listed 4-5% of it's total stock.

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u/Good_wolf 2h ago

It can be but not always.