Capitalism without capital
by Haskel, Jonathan · first published 2017
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains how intangible investments like software, design, and organizational processes now drive much of the economy and why standard measures miss them; useful for readers interested in economics and measuring value.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, R&D, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, from tech firms and pharma companies to coffee shops and gyms, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing impor
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…the proportion of our economy governed by that different marginal cost vs volume curve has continued to grow. And that this has underappreciated implications on how we design economic law. As he notes, Capitalism Without Capital is an exploration of this idea that he read and enjoyed.
on “Intangible investment behaves differently” ↗The authors of Capitalism without Capital would argue that Starbucks are reaping the rewards of their investment in their process as illustrated by the staff manual that sibling comment mentions (just finished reading the book - really thought…
on “So You Want to Open a Small Press Bookstore/Artist-Run Space? A Cautionary Tale” ↗TL;DR: Bill Gates reviews one of his new favorite books, "Capitalism Without Capital". The book extends economic principles to measure value of intangible goods (such as software and online services), which were previously not correctly incorporated in economic models.
on “Not enough people are paying attention to this economic trend” ↗I found this to be a very good read: https://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-without-Capital-Intangible...
on “The American Corporation Is in Crisis” ↗TL;DR: Actually, read this longer thing: https://smile.amazon.com/Capitalism-without-Capital-Intangib...
on “Intangible investment behaves differently” ↗Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is absolutely fundamental. Another book I found fascinating is Capitalism without Capital. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Capitalism-without-Capital-Intangib...
on “Recommend me resources for self-teaching economics on undergrad level” ↗…programmers would have world-wide impact). I turned on a payment option for my platform one quarter, and very quickly people were using it for one million a month in purchases. Which kept going up. The book Capitalism without Capital talks about this. Some aspects of it are alluded to in Fred Brooks 1975 book The Mythical Man Month. To build a car, a lot of effort has to be made in making the car - not just the end result, but the…
on “The great decoupling of labor and capital” ↗