6. May 2008 by admin.

Deriving from the insight in Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the Twenty-First Century by Giovanni Arrighi, I have formulated a general set of ideas for economic development.

The Western economic model for development is resource and capital intensive, whereas the Eastern model is labor intensive. However, if an emphasis on labor is going to be used, then generalization, not specialization, of labor should be employed. Thus, an alternate form of industrialization will completely develop in the distant future. Division of labor, then, is harmful towards growth of human potential.

“The man whose entire life is spent in performing a few simple operations, generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become … [loses] the extensive interests of his country … incapable of vigor and perseverance”

It is a myth that Adam Smith encouraged the notion of division of labor, taking from the example he gave of the pin factory; Smith also indicated the negative effects of specialization. Coincidentally, American society as well as most international societies are geared towards a specialized focus in education. The competitiveness of the global economy demands the knowledge and skills required to make advances in biotechnology, microprocessor design, material science, and artificial intelligence. These are cutting-edge fields and skills, but they are difficult to use out-of-context. Thus, a comprehensive education is required.

An effective CEO is able to oversee production on all stages and participate with many talents and abilities. Likewise, the role of top advisors to the chief executive. On a smaller scale, family heads and members are expected to perform many tasks and require an all-encompassing knowledge of the industry. Generalization, not specialization, creates the flexibility needed to survive and adapt to changing conditions in the 21st century economy.

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6. May 2008 by admin.

“If time is money, space is also money.”

Interestingly enough, warehouse and storage buildings also cost a monthly rent or a fee per square foot of storage, just like any other enterprise in business. Even land and sustainable development can be worth money, and we exchange our wage, which stores a market value, so that we may gain time and space, and vice versa, that we put into strategic use time and space so that money is gained, as in business, or even created out of thin air, as in finance. Thus, perhaps a new definition of money is needed in the context of economic gain in a particular ecosystem.

Everything in spacetime can potentially be worth money. A single dimension, a line in the form of a road, can be a profitable enterprise. Extend that to a two dimensions, and a rectangular surface is created, in the form of land, which can be converted into a farm, with pastures and livestock. Add a third dimension, height, and buildings sprout from land, and trees shoot up from the ground. A business is born. Integrate a fourth dimension, time, and movement and life is born. The farm is alive, and the workers plowing, managers working on the Internet with customer service. Such a business can be profitable for ten years, which represents the flow of money into and out of this farm over time.

“Complexity cannot be avoided, but it can be managed.”

-S. Barkeshli

Complexity is the largest barrier to entry in a free market. Thus, an effective merchant is not only able to deal with the complexity, she is also able to simplify challenges for consumers. Simpleness in itself is a form of customer service, because simplicity used in a genuine fashion helps people get by.

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