Everything Everywhere Daily · Friday, October 2, 2026
Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman predicted in the 1990s that the internet's impact on the economy would be no greater than that of fax machines, due to flaws in Metcalfe's Law. He foresaw the internet's growth slowing drastically.
“The growth of the Internet will slow drastically as the flaw in Metcalfe's law, which states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participants, becomes apparent.”
“Most people have nothing to say to each other. By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet's impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machines.”