So would we not expect that by getting education, job training and starting a business would make their net worth be higher rather than lower. With an education, they could get work with higher renumeration, Job training the same.
If they got a loan to get that training or start a business, it is likely that it's not going to be paid off within just those three years.
Lasers between the continents is too impractical. Combine tropospheric scatter and enough ships, you might be able to build a microwave relay system, but the cost would be horrendous and obviously extremely vulnerable to enemy action. If you are wondering what I'm imagining, think multiple White Alice type links across the Atlantic.
Biology is the only science in which multiplication means the same thing as division.