Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The Social Era represents systemic shifts in the way goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed. The underlying issues go way beyond social media which represents the change in marketing and communication-related work.
The national, and international, dialog has been focused on social media as the new shiny thing that everyone and every business should be using. While intriguing, entertaining and engaging, social media only represents one part of the “systemic” requirements to analyze the economic shifts ushering in a new era.
Note that the defintion of economics starts with is the social science… The term social science is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to anthropology,archaeology, criminology, economics, education, history, linguistics, communication studies, political science, international relations, sociology, human geography, and psychology, and includes elements of other fields as well, such as law, cross-cultural studies, environmental studies, and social work. All of these subject matters represent the systemic elements of an economic system. You don’t have to be an expert on each subject matter of social science to understand the systemic nature of economics. However you do need to understand the systemic nature of economics before you can see and understand economic shifts.
Understanding The Systemic Nature of Economics
The Social Era represents a shift away from a manufacturing-based economy and toward a technology-and-innovation driven one. The economics of technology and innovation are influenced more by the intangible assets than the historical tangible assets. Just as physical assets were used to finance the creation of more physical assets during the industrial age, intangible assets are being used to create more tangible assets in the Social Era.
Note the definition of social science and you will see intangible assets, knowledge. Intangible assets show up in the financial system in various ways. They are valued—often implicitly, sometimes explicitly—in financial markets by analysts, in stock prices, in ratings by credit agencies and for private lender programs. The majority value of the S&P’s index is driven by intangilbe assets.
The economics of the Social Era are creating tangible results from intangible capital. Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The difference between past economies and that of the Social Era is a shift from tangilbe assets to intangible assets and understanding what influences them.
Understanding these shifts provides the insight into the nature of economic value in the Social Era.