You don’t need to be an economist to see it.
Just compare BYD and Tesla.
One is Chinese, founded in 1995, with over $107 billion in revenue.
The other is American, founded in 2003, with less revenue, but a market cap six times bigger.
The reason?
Because one sells cars, and the other sells dreams.
And Wall Street loves a good dream.
In America, valuation is no longer tied to assets, production, or even profits. It’s a ritual of collective belief—a performance act in which branding replaces substance, and expectation outweighs reality.
It’s the same logic behind a $1,000 jacket that costs $100 to make.
Put a fancy logo on it, and suddenly, it’s not overpriced—it’s “premium.”
You’re not just buying a product; you’re investing in a lifestyle.
Sure. Keep telling yourself that.
Tesla is the $1,000 jacket.
BYD is the actual tailor shop.
This is not about Tesla alone. It’s about a systemic culture of inflation, not in prices, but in meaning.
When “valuation” becomes detached from real-world contribution, we enter the casino of financial storytelling.
Markets rise not on performance, but on promise.
Stock prices reflect not what a company is, but what a hedge fund feels it might become.
It’s not a business model—it’s mood swings with decimal points.
And let’s be honest:
This illusion isn’t creating better companies.
It’s just creating dumber investors.
Investors who think they’re visionaries because they bought into the hype.
Consumers who think they’re elite because they bought the label.
Boards who think they’re gods because someone inflated their stock ticker.
But every illusion has an expiration date.
Every bubble has its needle.
And when dreams are sold on credit, reality always comes to collect.
This isn’t growth.
It’s speculative theater funded by your retirement account.
Real value doesn’t need hype.
It appears in supply chains, on production lines, in tangible goods, and on profit sheets that make sense even without a TED Talk.
So next time you see a billion-dollar valuation on a company with no earnings, ask yourself:
Are you investing in a business?
Or are you just buying the dream—before it bursts?