Predictions for 2025 From Around The Web and The Beginning of The Narrative Economy - Sunday Reads And Listens

Good morning from Coronado.

With the year winding down it is time to think about what might happen in the markets in 2025.

Last year at this time I wrote ‘A Festivus For The Optimists’. The gist was three of my favorite thinkers and investors were optimistic…

While I have not directly checking in with Fred, Om and Andy on their optimism, the reasons for their optimism have only been further confirmed.

I have checked in on AI every week this year on our show ‘Trends With Friends’ co host Michael Parekh (here is his newsletter you can also read) and he has not wavered on this trend.

Here is Box ($BOX) founder Aaron Levie on AI tailwinds as we enter 2025 (click the :

My friend Raoul Pal says we are witnessing a coup d’etat of the entire political system by the ‘technology accelerationists’

Raoul has been very right about this ‘exponential age’.

This exponential age is finally catching up with banking and the financial markets.

Mike Dudas is right when he says:

You are simply not prepared for how large global, 24/7/365, low fee, instant settlement, open, composable machine money is going to be stablecoins are money’s broadcast/cable -> streaming moment

At the same time though - Visa is hitting all-time highs and Mastercard is not far behind. Combined they are $1.1 trillion in market cap:

As for AI/technology and media…it remains a shitshow. Here is my friend Om musing on media in the age of AI. The gist:

In terms of how to think about life and work in this ‘exponential’ age and era of AI, I really liked this take from Jack Altman:

I am not going to argue with all the optimists in my highly curated feed.

The cynic in me wants to argue that since all the smartest people I know are optimistic, the markets have priced it in.

If everyone is an optimist because of AI and the technology accelerationists are in control, it does not mean the markets will go up in a straight line.

There is a lot to ponder and discuss for sure.

I believe we are entering the beginnings of what I am calling the ‘Narrative Economy’. It is an economy that sits on top of ‘technology’ and the ‘degenerate economy’.

What is the ‘narrative economy’?

The 'narrative economy' emerged full throttle in 2024. Storytelling always mattered in public markets. Because of technology, ZIRP and politics/policy we now have Memestocks and Memecoins that are ‘storytelling’ first entities. These sit on top of the 'degenerate economy' of $2 plus trillion (Bitcoin, Solana, HOOD , Fan Duel, Draft Kings, Coinbase).

I am not sure of much, but I am sure that in 2025 some of the ‘narrative economy’ survivors will move towards fundamentals. So, instead of 99.9 percent of memecoins failing...one day just 70 percent of them fail (like all public stocks eventually do).

Have a great Sunday.