Ephemeral capital: How memepreneurs profit from memes

Kris Kaleta

Economic Affairs, 2026, vol. 46, issue 2, 269-284

Abstract: This article offers an Austrian market‐process theory of internet memes, framing them as plan‐relative symbolic capital goods. It integrates Menger's goods taxonomy with Lachmannian capital heterogeneity to model memetic templates as durable goods and their instances as rapidly depreciating novelty services. Under Knightian uncertainty, actors on the memetic market discover attentional disequilibria, earning dual returns in the form of immediate monetisation and option‐like social capital convertible via contract. A hermeneutic layer (Lavoie–Storr) clarifies how shared meanings shape usability. The analysis identifies three institutional vulnerabilities that generate noise and slow discovery in this market. It concludes with institutional implications.

Date: 2026
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