Varian rule

Economics

Google's Chief Economist Hal Varian said that to predict the future, look at what the rich have now; the middle-class will have it in 10 years, and the poor will have it in another decade. Popular examples of this:

A similar phenomenon happened with many big innovations, like the car, fridge or AC, though the timescale was longer than 10 years.

Tech in particular has been a democratizing force: no matter how rich you are, you cannot buy a better iPhone, or a better Google search, or a better YouTube than any middle-class or low-income person can. For the time being, the rich can buy a better nutritionist, personal trainer, or tax advisor, but sometime in the near future, tech might democratize that too, at least to a big extent.

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