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Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by WalterBright on Sunday April 26, 2026 @12:40PM (#47911630)
> optimised immediate profitability over everything else

Which is the usual complaint that businesses are focused on short term results, sacrificing long term results.

If that would be generally true, the stock market would be going down steeply, not up, as stock prices are based on expectations of future profits.

Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by mikem170 on Sunday April 26, 2026 @12:50PM (#47911717)
Are stock market profit expectations mostly long term? Stock markets have been wrong before.

Besides that, the U.S. stock market went up over several decades while manufacturing capabilities were transferred overseas. That has had, and will continue to have, domestic ramifications that might not be captured by investor profits.

Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by WalterBright on Sunday April 26, 2026 @01:37PM (#47912144)
The stock market has been going up for a couple hundred years. When do you expect the pervasive short term thinking will crater the economy?
Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by mikem170 on Monday April 27, 2026 @02:15AM (#47918277)
I didn't say that the economy would be cratered. GDP doesn't capture everything.
Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by wredcoll on Sunday April 26, 2026 @01:38PM (#47912149)
> as stock prices are based on expectations of future profits.

I thought stock prices were based one what I thought I could sell it for next week.

Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by WalterBright on Sunday April 26, 2026 @01:43PM (#47912201)
If you could sell it for more next week, that means the next week buyers are expecting higher profits.
Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by wredcoll on Sunday April 26, 2026 @01:44PM (#47912220)
No, it just means they're expecting someone else to buy it from them at a higher price. See also: bitcoin.
Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by WalterBright on Sunday April 26, 2026 @01:51PM (#47912278)
Bitcoin is not a company selling a product.
Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by wredcoll on Sunday April 26, 2026 @10:13PM (#47917007)
What exactly is the difference? Someone tweets that next week bitcoin will be worth $x more, or elon tweets that tesla will be worth $x more next week?
Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by WalterBright on Sunday April 26, 2026 @11:01PM (#47917256)
Bitcoin isn't run by any organization.