Have we reached a market top in technology stocks, and in particular those of the Fangs: Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google? That is the question many investors are asking, not only because their valuations seem so rich, but also because it seems Big Tech has become the new Wall Street — the prime target for a populist backlash in a world increasingly bifurcated, economically and socially.
When US president Donald Trump is tweeting about Amazon avoiding sales tax (incorrectly, not that it ever stopped him) you know the trend has reached critical mass. Meanwhile, the industry continues to generate its own terrible PR: see the most recent complaints from numerous women about sexual harassment from tech investors.
What is most interesting is that Silicon Valley remains in a cognitive bubble, reluctant to engage with legitimate public worries over monopoly, privacy and tech-related job disruption — not to mention its own culture.