Is there a recent growth in negative-sum assets?

That is the topic of my latest Free Press column, starting with that rebranding of the sneaker company to “an AI company.”  Here is one excerpt:

As an economist, I find positive-sum gambles more appealing than negative-sum gambles. Positive-sum gambles might include buying blue-chip stocks, exercising more (even if there is always risk of injury), marrying, initiating a new friendship, or trying out a new idea at work.

We collectively, as Americans, are trying out more and more of these positive-sum gambles all the time. Contrary to common reports, younger generations are accumulating wealth at roughly the same pace as older ones, and each generation as a whole has been richer than the previous one. Real, inflation-adjusted wages in the United States are higher than ever before, even if we might feel the pinch of affordability relative to our expectations.

And there’s the rub: It seems to be a feature of human nature that as good things happen we have a desire to. . . piss some parts of those gains away. Entrepreneurs will step into those slots and create new, exotic, and appealing ways for us to do so. Sports gambling can be destructive and addictive, but for a lot of people it is mostly harmless fun. Yes, you’re more likely to end up losing, but a bet on how many points LeBron James will score might make the game more exciting.

So if NewBird AI is your idea of a modest thrill, who am I to stop you? Most people who trade in such stocks are spending discretionary funds rather than their lunch money. They may be making mistakes, but they are unlikely to end up in the breadlines.

The intertwining of successive ups and downs reminds me of how many people use GLP-1 drugs. They help you lose weight, and if they work for you, they ensure your weight will not rise above a certain level. So why not eat more chocolate ice cream? The penalty for overeating is smaller, just as in an economy of generally greater affluence and security, the consequences of losing some of your money on fun but highly speculative wagers diminish.

Unfortunately, the picture is not that smooth and safe for everyone.

I expect the policy issues here will only rise in importance.