The hype, coupled with the anaemic performance of other parts of the economy, has made SpaceX and AI in general a magnet for speculative investment. Without SpaceX and the AI sector, US stock markets would already be in decline. This also partly explains the support for SpaceX from the Trump regime, which is relying on these stock market increases to maintain an illusion of prosperity – at a time when hundreds of millions of ordinary people in the US are feeling an acute cost-of-living crisis.