Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity (34 page)

digital marketplace,
24
–30

early stages of e-commerce,
25
–26

highly centralized sales platforms of,
29

initial treatment of Internet as commons,
25

“long tail” of widespread digital access and,
26

positive reinforcement feedback loop and,
28

power-law dynamics and,
26
–29

removal of humans from selection process in,
28

digital transaction networks,
140
–51

Bitcoin,
143
–49,
150
–51,
152

blockchains and,
144
–51

central authorities, dependence on,
142

decentralized autonomous corporations (DACs) and,
149
–50

PayPal,
140
–41

theft and,
142

direct public offerings (DPOs),
205
–6

discount brokerages,
176
–78

diversification,
208
,
211

dividends,
113
–14,
208
–10

dividend traps,
113

Dorsey, Jack,
191
–92

Draw Something,
192
,
193

Drexler, Mickey,
116

dual transformation,
108
–9

dumbwaiter effect,
19

Dutch East India Company,
71
,
89
,
131

eBay,
16
,
26
,
29
,
45
,
140

education industry,
95
–97

Eisenhower administration,
52
–53,
63
,
75

Elberse, Anita,
28

employee-owned companies,
116
–18

Enron,
133
,
171n

Eroski,
220

eSignal,
178

EthicalBay,
221

E*Trade,
176
,
177

Etsy,
16
,
26
,
30

expense reduction, and corporate growth,
78
–79

Facebook,
4
,
31
,
83
,
93
,
96
,
201

data gathering and sales by,
41
,
44

innovation by acquisition of startups,
78

IPO of,
192
–93,
195

psychological experiments conducted on users by,
32
–33

factors of production,
212
–14

Fairmondo,
221

Family Assistance Plan,
63

family businesses,
103
–4,
231
–32

FarmVille,
192

favor banks,
161

Febreze Set & Refresh,
108

Federal Reserve,
137
–38

feedback loop, and positive reinforcement,
28

Ferriss, Tim,
201

feudalism,
17

financial services industry,
131
–33,
171
–73,
175

Fisher, Irving,
158

flash crash,
180

flexible purpose corporations,
119
–20

flow, investing in,
208
–10

Forbes,
88
,
173
,
174

40-hour workweek, reduction of,
58
–60

401(k) plans,
171
–74

Francis, Pope,
227
,
228
,
234

Free, Libre, Open Knowledge (FLOK) program,
217
–18

Free
(Anderson),
33

free money theory, local currencies based on,
156
–59

barter exchanges,
159

during Great Depression,
158
–59

self-help cooperatives,
159

stamp scrip,
158
–59

tax anticipation scrip,
159

Wörgls,
157
–58

frenzy,
98
–99

Fried, Jason,
59

Friedman, Milton,
64

Friendster,
31

Frito-Lay,
80

front running,
180
–81

Fulfillment by Amazon,
89

Fureai Kippu (Caring Relationship Tickets),
162

Future of Work initiative,
56n

Gallo, Riso,
103
–4

Gap,
116

Gates, Bill,
186

General Electric,
132

General Public License (GPL) for software,
216

Gesell, Silvio,
157

GI Bill,
99

Gimein, Mark,
147

Gini coefficient of income inequality,
81
–82,
92

global warming,
135
,
227
–28,
237

GM,
80

Goldman Sachs,
133
,
195

gold standard,
139

Google,
8
,
48
,
78
,
83
,
90
–91,
93
,
141
,
218

acquisitions by,
191

business model of,
37

data sales by,
37
,
44

innovation by acquisition of startups,
78

IPO of,
194
–95

protests against,
1
–3,
5
,
98
–99

grain receipts,
128

great decoupling,
53

Great Depression,
137
,
158
–59

Great Exhibition, 1851,
19

Greenspan, Alan,
132
–33

growth,
1
–11

bazaars, and economic expansion in late Middle Ages,
16
–18

central currency and,
126
,
129
–31,
133
–36

digital industrialism, growth agenda of,
14
–15,
23
–24

highly centralized e-commerce platforms and,
29

startups, hypergrowth expected of,
187
–91

as trap (
See
growth trap)

growth trap,
4
–5,
68
–123

central currency as core mechanism of,
133
–34

corporations as program and,
68
–82

platform monopolies and,
82
–93,
101

recoding corporate model and,
93
–97

steady-state enterprises and,
98
–123

guaranteed minimum income programs,
62
–65

guaranteed minimum wage public jobs,
65
–66

guilds,
17

Hagel, John,
76
–77

Hardin, Garrett,
215
–16

Harvard Business Review,
108
–9

Heiferman, Scott,
196
–97

Henry VIII, King,
215
,
229

Hewlett-Packard UK,
112

high-frequency trading (HFT),
179
–80

Hilton,
115

Hobby Lobby
case,
72

Hoffman, Reid,
61

Holland, Addie Rose,
205
–6

holograms,
235

Homeport New Orleans,
121

housing industry,
135

Huffington, Arianna,
34
,
35
,
201

Huffington Post,
34
,
201

human role in economy,
13
–67

aristocracy’s efforts to control peasant economy,
17
–18

bazaars and,
16
–18

big data and,
39
–44

chartered monopolies and,
18

decreasing employment and,
30
–39

digital marketplace, impact of,
24
–30

industrialism and,
13
–16,
18
–24,
44

“likes” economy and,
30
–39

reevaluation of employment and adopting policies to decrease it and,
54
–67

sharing economy and,
44
–54

Hurwitz, Charles,
117

IBM,
90
–91,
112

inclusive capitalism,
111
–12

income disparity

corporate model and,
81
–82

digital technology as accelerating,
53
–54

Gini coefficient of,
81
–82,
92

growth trap and,
4

power-law dynamics and,
27
–28,
30

public service options for reducing,
65
–66

IndieGogo,
30
,
199

individual retirement accounts (IRAs),
171

industrial farming,
134
–35

industrialism,
18
–24

branding and,
20

digital,
13
–16,
23
–24,
44
,
53
–54,
93
,
101
–2,
201
,
214
,
226

disempowerment of workers and,
18
–19

human connection between producer and consumer, loss of,
19
–20

isolation of human consumers from one another and,
20
–21

mass marketing and,
19
–20

mass media and,
20
–21

purpose of,
18
–19,
22

value system of,
18
–19

inflation,
169

Instagram,
31

Intercontinental Exchange,
182

interest,
129
–31

investors/investing,
70
,
72
,
168
–223

algorithmic trading and,
179
–84

bounded,
210
–15

commons model for running businesses and,
215
–23

crowdfunding and,
198
–201

derivative finance, volume of,
182

digital technology and,
169
–70,
175
–84

direct public offerings (DPOs) and,
205
–6

discount brokerages and,
176
–78

diversification and,
208
,
211

dividends and,
208
–10

flow, investing in,
208
–10

high-frequency trading (HFT) and,
179
–80

in low-interest rate environment,
169
–70

microfinancing platforms and,
202
–4

platform cooperatives and,
220
–23

poor performance of do-it-yourself traders and,
177
–78

retirement savings and,
170
–75

startups and,
184
–205

ventureless capital and,
196
–205

irruption,
98

i-traffic,
196

iTunes,
27
,
29
,
34
,
89

J. Crew,
116

Jay Z,
36

Jefferson, Thomas,
19

Jenkins, George W.,
117

Jobs, Steve,
186

J.P. Morgan,
142

Kapor, Mitch,
186

Kickstarter,
38
,
198
–99,
200
,
201

King, Larry,
25

Kiva,
202
–3

Klein, Naomi,
135

Known,
96
–97

Kodak,
83
,
98

labor,
212
–14

Lacy, Sarah,
197

land,
212
–14

Lanier, Jason,
44
–45,
58

La’Zooz,
222

Leary, Timothy,
25

Lefsetz, Bob,
34

leftism,
231

Lending Club,
202
–3,
204

Leo XIII, Pope,
228
–29,
230

Lerner, Jaime,
164
,
165

Lessig, Lawrence,
199
,
215

LETS (Local Exchange Trading System),
163
–65

Lietaer, Bernard,
139
,
208

Life, Inc.
(Rushkoff),
70n

“likes” and similar metrics, economy of,
30
–39

crowdfunding as alternative to,
38
–39

data as product and,
32
,
34
–36

growth of social media companies at expense of their users and,
33

media company, becoming one’s own,
35
–36

paywalls as alternative to,
37
–38

revenue generated from data gleaned from,
32

simulation of humanity through artificial social media and,
33

users as products and,
32
–33

limited liability companies (LLCs),
72

Lippincott,
74

L.L. Bean,
80

local currencies,
154
–65

cooperative community currencies,
160
–65

free money theory, currencies based on,
156
–59

local multiplier effect,
155

Long Tail theory,
26
,
33

low-profit limited liability company (L3C),
120
–21

Luckett, Oliver,
35
–36

Lyft,
45
,
47
,
87

Machine Learning lab,
90
–91

McAfee, Andrew,
23
,
53

McCluhan, Marshall,
229

McKenna, Terence,
234

McLuhan, Marshall,
69

Magic Eraser Duo,
107

Maker’s Row,
30

malware,
37

marketing.
See also
advertising