Tuesday, September 16, 2003

The Harvard Crimson Online :: Capitalism's Next Revolution

The Harvard Crimson Online :: Capitalism's Next Revolution "Capitalism is a book of many chapters. It has been successful in the past because it is immensely plastic and robust. Capitalism lends itself to reinvention every century or so through realignment with the new demands of new populations. In this way, the unmet needs that mark today’s chasm of rage and frustration can become the next great source of wealth creation. They represent wholly unrealized economic value capable of fueling economic growth for decades to come.
It is time for managerial capitalism to give way to a broader and more powerful new capitalism that leverages the individual uniqueness, social networks and distributed technologies of our times. Can we devise a new commerce whose very purpose is supporting individuals and their communities at a price we can afford—one that recognizes individuals as the source of economic value and puts them at the center of a new commercial solar system? Can we conceive a new economics in which support, advocacy, authenticity, trust, relationships and profit can occupy the same sentence without invoking disbelief and peals of laughter? In fact, these notions are no more radical than the once-revolutionary economics of mass production appeared to be a century ago; no more outlandish than farmers able to buy automobiles, thanks to the innovations of Henry Ford and his generation."

Via Werblog

Shoshana Zuboff is amazingly insightful; if you haven't read her earlier In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power yet, you should add it to your to-read list.

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