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What's been happening with the stock market & why tech is down
Thamina Stoll
February 19, 2026
Hi Sheconomist Insider 👋 It’s Thamina, Founder of The Sheconomist. This is your bi-weekly dose of celebrating the female economy where I help ambitious, purpose-driven women like yourself flip the script on money, career & wellbeing conventions so you can live life on your own terms.
TLDR:
🤖 AI is going to create a “permanent underclass”
💔 We’re in a relationship recession
💰 What’s been happening in the stock market
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🧪 Freedom Formulas
Silicon Valley is saying AI is going to create a “permanent underclass”. If you are a knowledge worker you should be concerned. But if you’re a high-agency woman who understands leverage? A different story.
What does “permanent underclass” even mean?
When people say AI could create a permanent underclass, they’re pointing to a structural risk:
That a large group of people may become economically irrelevant in a world where machines can do most cognitively valuable work, and never fully re-enter high-paying labor markets.
This isn’t about temporary disruption. It’s about permanent displacement.
Let’s unpack this.
Why the fear with AI is different
Historically, automation replaced jobs but created new ones.
Industrial Revolution → factory jobs
Internet → digital marketing, SaaS, social media managers
Smartphones → app economy
The fear with AI is different. AI doesn’t just automate manual labor.
It automates knowledge work, writing, research, coding, design, customer support, data analysis.
In that world, the “underclass” isn’t uneducated. It’s people whose skills are no longer scarce. And scarcity drives income.
What the “Permanent Underclass” Argument Gets Right
There is a real risk:
AI compresses mid-skill cognitive work.
Entry-level white collar ladders shrink.
Companies need fewer executors.
Ownership and capital concentrate.
If you define yourself purely by: “I’m good at doing the work.” Yes, that makes you vulnerable.
The Real Divide Won’t Be Intelligence.
It will be leverage. AI is a force multiplier.
If you have:
Strategic thinking
Distribution power
Ownership
Taste & Good Judgement
A Personal Brand
Relationship Capital
AI amplifies you.
If you only have task execution? AI replaces you. That’s the difference.
Why high-agency women are actually well positioned to thrive in this environment
1. Strategic Pattern Recognition
Women who’ve navigated male-dominated environments already know how to:
Read rooms
Spot power dynamics
Anticipate shifts
Build alliances
AI doesn’t remove that. It makes it more valuable.
Because when execution becomes cheap, good judgment becomes increasingly important. And judgment is contextual, emotional, relational.
2. Relationship Capital Is the New Moat
In an AI-saturated world:
Information is free.
Execution is cheap.
Connection is scarce.
Women tend to:
Maintain networks more intentionally
Nurture long-term trust
Build collaborative ecosystems
That is not about “being soft”. That is about strategic infrastructure.
AI cannot replicate earned trust.
If anything, the more synthetic the world becomes, the more human trust compounds in value.
3. Distribution > Credentials
This is the biggest shift.
In the past: Your résumé was your leverage.
Now: Your audience is.
A woman with:
50k engaged LinkedIn followers
A niche newsletter
A strong point of view
Industry credibility
Has more leverage than someone with a quiet Ivy League résumé.
Distribution gives you:
Optionality
Deal flow
Inbound opportunities
Pricing power
4. Brand as an Economic Asset
Having a personal brand used to feel optional. Now it’s almost a non-negotiable.
When roles compress, people hire and invest in:
Known operators
Trusted voices
Clear thinkers
People with networks
Brand reduces replaceability. Not influencer fluff. Strategic reputation.
AI can write. AI cannot have lived perspective.
If you cultivate a sharp, differentiated point of view? You become scarce.
The Reframe
AI is not a threat to high-agency women. It’s a sorting mechanism.
It rewards:
Curiosity
Speed
Strategic thinking
Ownership.
Network building.
Clarity of thought.
It penalizes:
Complacency
Pure execution roles
Credential-dependence without visibility
What you should be doing now
Not scrambling. But upgrading.
→ Become AI-literate.
Not just “I use ChatGPT.”
But:
How does this change my industry?
Where does value shift?
What layer is defensible?
→ Move toward leverage roles.
Ask:
Am I closer to execution…Or capital allocation and strategy?
Shift accordingly.
→ Build distribution early.
Not when you “feel ready.” Visibility compounds.
→ Invest aggressively and intelligently.
Even small capital participation matters.
→ Strengthen relationship ecosystems.
Not transactional networking.Strategic alliance building.
Don’t be afraid.
This is your decade of leverage.
If women:
Master AI tools
Build capital positions
Expand distribution
Step into visible leadership
Structure upside
We don’t become displaced.
We become disproportionately powerful.
The women who understand leverage in the next 5–10 years will not just survive the AI transition.
They’ll define it.
And that’s a very different narrative than fear.
❣️ Thamina’s Top Picks
✨ This week’s Moodboard
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đź’¸ Cooking up Wealth
What’s happening in the stock market (and why tech is down)