Atoms, Bits, and Wits: A New Economics for the Twenty-First Century--Part I

Frederic Beach Jennings

Forum for Social Economics, 2015, vol. 44, issue 3, 213-233

Abstract: Part I : Three elementary components of economics are atoms, bits, and wits. The economics of atoms is familiar to economists, in the production of physical outputs treated as substitutes in consumption. The relation of value to scarcity with atoms is that abundance reduces the worth of material goods. The realm of bits is less understood; the issues appear in network effects, where abundance augments the worth of intangibles. The economics of networks is social: conflicts of interest (substitution) are balanced with concerts of value (complementarity) in combination. But in information networks--the realm of bits--substitution cedes to complementarity and competition defers to cooperation as efficient.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/07360932.2014.933116

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