Friedberg predicts the moon will become a giant economy comparable to the East India Company.
“I actually think the moon is gonna be a giant, giant, giant economy. And I think it's like one of these economies.”
Friedberg claims energy costs dropping to one cent per kilowatt hour would expand every economy.
“if you get the cost of energy down to 1¢ a kilowatt hour, it absolutely expands every economy. Like, everything blows up. Like, imagine if you”
Friedberg states extending lifespan by one year adds tens of trillions to GDP.
“For every one year, we can extend average human lifespan. We're adding tens of trillions of dollars to GDP. Right? So this is also another big economic driver.”
Friedberg estimates nearly half the US population receives government paychecks, pensions, or welfare benefits.
“Today, if you add up federal, state, local government employees, plus all the contractors for the government, plus all the people that live off of a retirement check or or a welfare support check, so all the people that are living off government checks, it's about nearly half The US population.”
Friedberg says shipping costs from moon to Earth are zero due to physics advantages.
“And the reason is if you can get to the moon, the moon has an extraordinary abundance of material that we can mine, process, and manufacture into goods.”
Friedberg says continuous moon mining and manufacturing would cost a fraction of Earth operations.
“So we could run continuous mining, continuous manufacturing processes on the moon at a fraction of the cost of what it would take to do it here on Earth.”
Friedberg estimates more than half of Americans rely on government checks directly or indirectly for income.
“By my estimate, more than half of Americans rely on a government check either directly or indirectly.”
Friedberg cites research showing happiness plateaus at $60k income but correlates with year-over-year income change above that level.
“at the time, it improved up to $60,000 of income a year Right. Then it flatlined beyond And then the the the key measure of happiness was income change year over year.”
Friedberg explains happiness research showing year-over-year income change matters more than absolute wealth for human satisfaction.
“the key measure of happiness was income change year over year. The more your income changes from one year to the next, the happier you are.”
Friedberg states 40 million Americans graduated with student loans in the last decade, averaging $40,000 debt each.
“four you know, four forty million Americans graduated in last ten years from student from college with student loan. Average student loan debt $440,000.”
Friedberg asks about unit cost advantage of drone delivery versus traditional food delivery drivers.
“As you're launching in The US, do you have a sense Keller, are you gonna beat the unit cost to deliver with delivery drivers today and by how much?”
Friedberg details potato economics showing farmers spend 20-40% of $5,000 per acre revenue on current planting methods.
“And that $5,000 of revenue is requiring an investment of 1 to $2,000 an acre. So 20 to 40% of revenue to deal with all of the planting and fumigation and storage”
Friedberg estimates Ohalo's potato seed could create $1,500 per acre operating profit improvement for growers.
“You could probably see that you could save at least 15 or create at least $1,500 an acre of operating profit improvement for that potato grower.”
Friedberg details potato economics: $5,000 per acre revenue with $1,000-$2,000 operating costs for current methods.
“Okay? And that $5,000 of revenue is requiring an investment of 1 to $2,000 an acre.”
Friedberg projects Ohalo potato seed at $500 per acre could deliver $1,500 per acre profit improvement.
“You know, you can probably see that you could save at least 15 or create at least $1,500 an acre of operating profit improvement for that potato grower.”
Friedberg details potato economics: $5,000 per acre revenue with $1,000-2,000 operating costs, demonstrating room for Ohalo's value capture.
“That potato farmer today is spending somewhere between one top line, that potato farmer is making about $5,000 an acre in The US. K?”
Friedberg argues 95% of people will eat what's cheap and tasty, not sustainable premium products.
“They're coming up the economic ladder and they're gonna eat more meat and they're gonna eat what tastes good and they're gonna eat whatever they can afford.”
Friedberg explains inflation moves through economy in stages, starting with commodities before becoming sticky in services.
“So the first thing we saw inflate was sort of hard commodities and soft commodities, things like energy and agricultural products and metals and so on.”
Friedberg argues happiness requires relative progress not absolute income, so UBI will inevitably cause societal decay.
“So the notion of some sort of flatlined or even flatlined at inflation adjusted basic income level for a large number of people will inevitably result in kind of what we're trying to prevent, which is, you know, some sort of decay, societal decay.”
Friedberg cites Treasury Secretary Mnuchin predicting 20-30% unemployment by summer if shutdowns continue.
“Steve Mucin, The US Treasury Secretary, was saying that we should expect 20% to 30% of the workforce to be unemployed by this summer if we keep this up.”