The goal is to destabilize and crater the economy then have the rich scoop it up for cheap right? With the goal of moving closer and closer to a pure rentier economy?
- Selling American assets to billionaires to exploit
- Gutting anything that helps average Americans so as to create justification for lower taxes for the rich.
- Gutting Ukraine so as to cut spending so as to provide tax cuts for the rich.
- Restricting any freedom of speech so that no one may complain about anything.
These people are birds of a feather and they are flocking together.
My best guess is that Trump and Musk are led by an intense hatred of everything the "old government" stands for, and acting emotionally, ignoring long term consequences.
I am not sure if you feel the second point follows on from the first or stands on its own? I will respond to it as a separate issue and I take it to mean the economy as a whole and not just residences. That being said I agree it is the goal of companies to move that way as they will always push for more control and recurring revenue, but that’s just corporate incentives at play, not global a shadowy plan imho. If we the consumers push back and demand our DVD's and CD's (yes I still use those) there will be players who come forth to take our money for them.
Day to day spending pressure is what tanks. Economy depends on money flow. Most of that flow is necessities (shelter, food)
This is not necessarily the case, due to leverage. For some, it can be "oh, no, my assets went to -200M down from 100M". In particular, it's somewhat common for rich people to fund their lifestyles, and sometimes fund business ventures (this is really playing with fire, but it happens) by borrowing against the stuff they own, which is usually mostly equity. In a really big crash, this can unwind rather messily, as some overstretched super-rich discovered in the previous financial crisis.
If wealth is a function of ownership why would you care if your $500m went down to $100m if the purchasing power you cratered is well below what you lost in 'value' while your ownership increased?
If the global economy shrinks by 80% (using your numbers) then their relative wealth can remain the same. If the US economy shrinks by 80%, then their global wealth has substantially declined while the wealthy in other countries do not suffer as much.
That would only work if they have large cash reserves, we have data that shows most billionaires/millionaires don't their wealth is tied up in assets.
Because of that if the market does crater their businesses/assets may in fact get wiped out.
The rich don't want volatility or crashes, it rarely benefits them.