I don't think that is correct. For example, a startup could make its founder a billion dollars, but if hundreds of millions of people are able to raise their incomes because they became more productive as a result of using that startup's product, then overall inequality would decrease. Does Coursera lower or increase inequality? I would argue it lowers it in the long run.
I just read "The Refragmentation" (I hadn't read it previously), and I had read the original essay on economic inequality previously.
Neither of these essays seems to discuss the good of startups in relation to economic inequality. All they discuss is the inevitability of startups, or really technology, increasing economic inequality. And "The Refragmentation" explicitly points out that a society can put a stop to this via high taxes.
(That said, it is late and maybe I didn't fully understand a sentence somewhere.)
Comments
Is it impossible to have the good of startups without also increasing economic inequality?
Yes.
This is discussed in detail in the original essay and in The Refragmentation essay here: http://paulgraham.com/re.html
I don't think that is correct. For example, a startup could make its founder a billion dollars, but if hundreds of millions of people are able to raise their incomes because they became more productive as a result of using that startup's product, then overall inequality would decrease. Does Coursera lower or increase inequality? I would argue it lowers it in the long run.
I just read "The Refragmentation" (I hadn't read it previously), and I had read the original essay on economic inequality previously.
Neither of these essays seems to discuss the good of startups in relation to economic inequality. All they discuss is the inevitability of startups, or really technology, increasing economic inequality. And "The Refragmentation" explicitly points out that a society can put a stop to this via high taxes.
(That said, it is late and maybe I didn't fully understand a sentence somewhere.)