InformationalistReductionOfCapitalism

An alternative to FeudalismCapitalismInformationalism.

Instead of each epoch being a separate (sui generis) economic system, perhaps each epoch brings a new understanding of economics and history.

For example, one version of capitalist mythology reinvents history as the evolution of capital. It starts with the invention of money (superceding barter), the invention of money-lending, the invention of book-keeping (or it's importation to Europe) etc. These all happened during the ostensibly pre-capitalist feudal age. Here there are no epochs ... the history of civilization is the history of the evolution of capitalism. Or money (OnMoney) or the market (OnMarkets)

In a similar way, informationalism is reinventing the history of civilization in it's own image. From the earliest pre-historic inventions of speech and writing; through the printing press; institutions like universities, libraries, museums and royal societies; the commercial press and newspapers etc. (MediaSystem, OnWritingAndAlphabets)

But as well as historical re-interpretation, there can also be theoretical reduction. For example, a new understanding of the ideas in capitalism as informationalist. Some examples :

• the transition from barter to money as the invention of a 1-way linked (co-ordinated) network (OneWayLinks)

• the interpretation of markets as high density social information hubs as well as pricing engines (MarketsAreConversations / SettingPrices)

CategoryEconomics, CategoryInformationalism