Every market story has a pull. Some are light tugs — headlines that shift a stock for a day. Others bend entire cycles around them. That’s Narrative Gravity: the unseen force that makes otherwise irrational moves feel inevitable.
But here’s the physics twist. In classical mechanics, you need escape velocity to break free from a planet’s gravity. Same with markets: to escape a dominant narrative, you need enough force — new data, new stories, or sheer momentum — to propel you beyond its pull.
Think of meme stocks in 2021. The data was terrible. Earnings weak, fundamentals absent. Yet the narrative — “retail against Wall Street” — had so much gravity that it bent analysts, news desks, and even regulators into its orbit. For months, you couldn’t fight it. Until reality (liquidity stress, options unwinding, broader corrections) supplied enough thrust to break free.
Or take Bitcoin. Its “digital gold” story has kept gravity for over a decade. Attempts to dismiss it as a bubble? Pulled back in. Environmental critiques? Pulled back in. But then ETFs arrive, adoption rises, and suddenly we’re talking about institutional scaffolding. That’s escape velocity in action — a narrative so reinforced by new infrastructure that it leaves old criticisms floating in the void.
🔗 Background: What is narrative economics? Robert Shiller’s work shows how stories spread like viruses — but physics gives us a sharper metaphor for when they collapse or ascend.
So here’s the investor’s move: don’t just ask what narrative is in play? Ask does it have escape velocity?
– Can the story survive contact with data?
– Does capital reinforce it, or contradict it?
– Has it infected enough participants that even skeptics must play along?
Because if the story has enough thrust, it won’t just bend the market. It will rewrite the map. 🚀
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