Dr. Brooks Robinson\ Black Economics.org
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
Much of Black America is angry and perplexed by policy decisions coming out of The People’s House in Washington, DC promulgated by President Donald Trump (T) and billionaire Elon Musk (M). Arguably, the anger and confusion are because there are no voices in the Press Room, or in the media broadly, providing a play-by-play of developments and no accompanying high-quality color commentators explaining how these developments fulfill clearly stated and fully integrated objectives and goals of the Trump Administration. For the uninitiated it is a whirlwind of madness.
Numerous explanations have been floated concerning reasons for these developments: From the esoteric (entering an age of Aquarius) to the mundane (improving economic efficiency). Economists will hasten to explain that there is rarely just one factor that causes or produces an outcome. In response to what we are receiving from Washington these days, economists generally posit that many variables explain these outcomes.
Admittedly, we are not well positioned to observe and capture all that is occurring (we read and hear bits and pieces and usually on a delayed basis), let alone collect information about the numerous variables that are precipitating what we are observing. However, sometimes we can all have a serendipitous experience that yields exactly what the doctor would order, even before the doctor has any information about what ails us.
In this case on Monday (March 31, 2025) evening, we began to recollect spontaneously the following developments. We realized that the US space industry “slipped” quietly from US Government control into private hands with little-to-no fanfare or consideration in the political marketplace and with no consideration of voters-taxpayers-citizens interests (we are the funders of the fundamental research and development of the US space program). Jeff Bezos’ and Elon Musk’s relatively recently entered into the space industry (this was a very stealthy process because we do not recall notable public announcements concerning their acquisition of basic technology to develop their firms). Also consider Musk’s very important financial role in the 2024 Presidential election and Bezos’ more muted role. And there are the very recent press headlines concerning Musk’s pointed intention to use his new-found powers to direct US Government actions to force a concerted push to conquer space and promulgate human life on the Moon and Mars while enriching himself in the process.
But these Monday evening recollections most likely reflected a delayed response to our early morning reading of a summary of a US Department of Commerce press release that provided new Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA’s) estimates of a Space Satellite Account.[i] As the press release explained, satellite accounts represent full national economic accounts treatment of an industry or set of closely related industries. The lay public is very familiar with national economic accounts for the entire US economy in the form of regular estimates of economic growth and price change under the heading GDP (gross domestic product). In other words, on a delayed basis, reading BEA’s press release about its Space Satellite Account motivated the just-described recollections, prompted the mental integration of those recollections with Space Satellite Account statistics, and helped bring into clearer view a well-known vision concerning the future of Earth humans. Of course we could be off the mark. The takeaway is that Mr. Musk appears to view Space exploration as an important and fruitful path for future US and global economic growth.[ii]
Recently, we commented in multiple venues that an important driver of much of US economic growth emanates from implementation of a Schumpeterian “creative destruction” model: e.g., from violent conflict to healthcare.[iii],[iv] A priori, Mr. Musk’s new vision of conquering space appears to break from the old Schumpeterian economic growth model. Of course, we should not overlook that the vision and intent to create new worlds in space is at least partly motivated by a notion that our Earth world is being destroyed and may become uninhabitable.
One could interpret Mr. Musk’s new economic growth model to be even more egregiously callous, cold, and cruel than the Schumpeterian model. Economic growth will no longer concern destroying and sacrificing with an intent to restore and/or rebuild. Rather, the new economic growth model will feature a continuous pattern of deriving economic benefit from the destruction of well- or over-developed and mature economies with no intent to rebuild, flight to new locales to develop and build new economies and enjoy the related economic benefits until the new economies become well- or over-developed and mature; afterwards the cycle repeats.
Maybe Mr. Musk will label his new economic model the ECM. ECM is an acronym for “European Colonization Model.” Therefore, it turns out that the “new model” is not so new after all because it is the model employed by Europeans ever since they ventured out of Europe and began opening their eyes to an already flourishing world. World History shows that subsequent European exploration was guided by what has proven to be a diabolical strategic plan. It is important for Black Americans and Black People around the globe to recognize that the only significant difference between the existing ECM and the one apparently envisioned by Mr. Musk is that the old and new economies identified in the ECM are not intra- but inter-planetary.
Unfortunately, Black American political, religious, and scholarly leaders enabled and sustained Black America’s marriage to the American system that operates today using the old (Schumpeterian) ECM. It is a system that features a strategic game for which we are assigned roles devoid of authority and control. Accordingly, we are locked into a game that we can never win because when we overcome the odds and approach victory, European game controllers change game rules to our disadvantage and engineer our defeat.[v]
At the same time, historical records show Black America’s numerous efforts that saved and extended the US’s position as a global superpower. We have been the sacrifice that ensured the nation’s very survival. Although we knew and were told emphatically and eloquently by some of our great personalities—such as Billie Holiday—that “God Bless the Child that Got its Own,” we continued blindly in this abusive marriage without acting rationally.
It is possible that certain Black Americans may be fortunate enough to be represented in the living gene pool that is carried into a new non-Earth world through human descendants. But most of us will not be able to make that future claim from our positions as Ancestors.
As it stands today, our descendants, who could be left behind on a dying Earth, may conclude that we failed to act to prevent the preventable. That is, if we choose the outcome predicted for the mythical frog that realizes too late that the pot of formerly tepid water has suddenly become the final swimming pond, then our descendants will say that we are the reason for their demise. On the other hand, we can achieve hero status if we delete or uninstall the current Fear APP in our brain computer; develop, install, and activate our own powerful Courage APP; and then use our inherent knowledge, energy, and power to develop and implement a strategic action plan that renders the old and new ECMs irrelevant for our future and that of our descendants.[vi]
Dr. Brooks Robinson is the founder of the Black Economics.org website.
Endnotes:
[i] Bureau of Economic Analysis (2025). “Space Economy.” US Department of Commerce. Washington, DC. https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/space-economy (Ret. 040425).
[ii] The BEA release includes gross output and value added statistics in nominal and real terms, related price indices, employment, and compensation estimates for industries that are integral to the space economy for 2012-2023. On a nominal value basis, the following space related industries contribute most to gross output ($240.9 billion) by the end of the period covered: Wholesale trade; Broadcasting and telecommunications; Computer and electronic products; Other transportation equipment; and the Federal Government’s Nondefense component. For nominal value added ($142.5 billion), the most important contributing industries by the end of the period are those reflected for nominal gross output. Space economy industries with the highest levels of nominal total compensation ($57.9 billion) include: Computer and electronic products; Wholesale trade; Broadcasting and telecommunications; and Other transportation equipment. The following Space economy industries reflect the highest levels of total employment (373 thousand): Wholesale trade; Broadcast and telecommunications; Other transportation equipment; and Computer and electronic products. Compensation and employment statistics for public sector industries are not included in the release. The Space economy value added is small relative to total value added for the US economy. Growth in real value added and real gross output are weak; employment in the space economy has declined over the period covered; but overall nominal compensation for the Space economy grew nearly 2.5 percent over the period.
[iii] The following three sources represent our recent public comments on the use of the Schumpeterian economic model to drive US economic growth: (1) The Carl Nelson Show, March 12, 2025; https://www.LTSPFBA.org/AVFILES/tcns-ltspfbait031225.mp3; (2) Brooks Robinson (2024), “What Now?” BlackEconomics.org; https://www.BlackEconomics.org/BEFuture/wn121424.pdf; and (3) Brooks Robinson (2024), “A Price for Everything,” BlackEconomics.org; https://www.BlackEconomics.org/BELit/apfe110424.pdf. (All items retrieved on 040325).
[iv] Joseph Schumpeter (1942). Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York. Harper: Harper and Brothers.
[v] The following represent selected discussions of this unwinnable and unfair economic strategic game: (1) Brooks Robinson (2024), “How Unfair is the Global Economic Strategic Game?” BlackEconomics.org; https://www.blackeconomics.org/BEFuture/hugesg071224.pdf; (2) Brooks Robinson (2023), “Rejoice,” BlackEconomics.org; https://www.BlackEconomics.org/BELit/rejoice063023.pdf; (3) Brooks Robinson (2015), “The Economics of Freedom for Black Americans in a Technological World: A Brief Futuristic Essay,” BlackEconomics.org; https://www.blackeconomics.org/BEFuture/tefba.pdf; and (4) Brooks Robinson (2015), A 3rd Freedom, BlackEconomics.org; https://www.blackeconomics.org/BEAP/ATF.pdf. (All items retrieved on 040425).
[vi] We believe that the Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America (LTSPFBA; https://www.ltspfba.org/LTSP/fin_ltspfba_071223.pdf, 1.5 MB) can be used to forge such an action plan.
