Boom, busts, and long term progress with Byrne Hobart

Economic growth historically accelerated from the Neolithic era through the Industrial Revolution, peaking in the mid-20th century before experiencing a relative slowdown. This stagnation is challenged by periods of intense, often irrational, optimism that drive massive investment in foundational infrastructure. While these manias frequently result in financial bubbles and fraud, they simultaneously create essential technological substrates—such as fiber optic networks or fracking capabilities—that future generations utilize to build more efficient systems. The current AI and energy investment cycle mirrors this pattern, as the demand for massive data center power pushes innovation in geothermal energy and subsurface engineering. Ultimately, these cycles serve as a mechanism for parallelizing development, forcing institutional realignment and accelerating the adoption of new technologies that might otherwise languish in the face of legacy constraints.