this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2026
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I think calling it a RAM shortage is a bit incorrect. It is not like we are running out of raw materials or something else in the supply chain is broken. It's shitty AI companies buying RAM that is not existing yet with money they don't have. Unfortunately there's no good term for that, I guess.
Supply monopolization?
Consumer fraud?
Sherman Act cartel market manipulation.
It’s called Imaginary Economics.
It tends to happen right before a capitalist system fails.
Is this a thing? Because what comes to mind for me is "the market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent," which just happens sometimes
How often does this happen that we can claim this correlation? 🤔
About once every 350 years... With a sample size of 3... 😅
So you're saying which empires/systems exactly then?
Spain perhaps? The Holy Roman empire?
I was averaging roman, British and Mongolian empires, based on Google AI summary, so take that with a pinch of salt 😅 🧂
Better than no samples I guess!
Can I coin the term imagineomics?
I'm not holding my breath.
We've been hearing about an AI crash practically since the hype train started.
It's the biggest bubble seen to date. It has all the characteristics, and it will crash eventually.
People can see the trends and see how it will probably break down in some way, the problem is that the market can stay irrational longer than we can stay solvent. It helps that these dipshits seem to have forgotten that money equals abstract resources and creating new resource issues that'll certainly put pressure on them in a more direct way either through legislation or via sabotage of required infrastructure.
[citation needed]
When has this happened before?
The term was well established centuries ago.
FRAUD
I like electron finance
Their exact location cannot be pinpointed; instead, they exist in a probability cloud where they are likely to be found at any given time.
That's what this hype cycle is founded on. If I lend you $5, you have $5 you can lend further. Now, we each still have a right to $5, so we can lend that debt obligation again for $4.50. Now we have, somehow, a market value of $19.
Until someone looks, then it's probably 0.
Yes there is: it's a Ponzi scheme (AI companies will fail when they get no new funds to pay off the stockholders)
Are they paying off stockholders?
They are creating staggering shortsighted profits, so yes, they are doing that. And of course ignoring what a bubble does in the long run.
Those who bail out only.
A mismatch between supply and demand is called a shortage. The source is irrelevant.
Market manipulation?
It's a racket, plain and simple. There used to be laws against this sort if thing.
Keyword: used to
I hope that it was worth it, and that America is great again. Let me just check some news articles... Oh my
It is a shortage caused by artificial demand rise.
It's greedy manufacturers selling it all to them in the first place and other market segments be damned.
I'm no AI fan but the manufactures aren't angels either.
The shovel makers and shovel sellers always get rich in a gold rush
If your boss offered you a raise for the same work, would you turn it down?
Not the same.
The money is fixed. You getting a raise means the money has to come from somewhere- which means the boss taking a pay cut or the customers paying more.
Still not the same, i don't work for any of those manufacturers - and if i did i sure as hell wouldn't care if their CEOs got a paycut to benefit the consumers. Won't someone please pity the CEOs...
I'm referring to the relationship between someone offering you more money for the same work the difference of which gets passed on to consumers.
A few consumers are going to a business and offering more money for the same work. The consumer is the business's boss just like your boss might offer you more money. You aren't going to turn down the raise because it will hurt other consumers just like the business isn't going to turn down the money even though it will cost other consumers more.
I brought that up because that wasn't going to happen. If you get a raise, your boss isn't going to take a paycut to make it happen. The raise comes from the consumers.
We have RAM supply shortage.
Now better? god...