In the last decade and a half the world has witnessed the greatest surge of wealth creation in human history.
Not only have we created more wealth than ever before, we have created different kinds of wealth.
Physical wealth, stuff made out of molecules, still makes up most of our economic output.
But knowledge and data wealth – digital assets – have grown faster than physical assets and now constitute the most part of the economy.
We are leaving physical shortages and scarcity behind, Today’s challenges are those of abundance – of a cornucopia.
Differences Between the Economies of Scarcity and Abundance
digitalreality.ieee.org
The Scarcity Economy
The theory of scarcity refers to a mismatch between limited resources and consumer demand. If a resource is scarce, but demand is high, not everyone can get what they want. There is a mismatch between the desired goods and the supply.
Scarcity keeps prices high and helps drive profitability.
The Economy of Abundance Unlike the economy of scarcity, the economy of abundance is built on the availability of near unlimited resources.
The economy of abundance is almost always present in the digital world—digital products and content are easy and cheap to copy, store, and transfer to millions. Digital products do not rely on scarce resources.
This can be incredibly disruptive to a traditional scarcity economy.
Aussie Arts & Letters 