DISQUS

Ryan Graves · 1 month ago

Tom Friedman in, "The World Is Flat", almost makes you think that we can completely survive on 'soft' value...? I definitely buy into what you're saying here that hard value is critical to keep the engine of our economy running strong. I wonder why Friedman doesn't address this important issue?

allenburt · 1 month ago

I agree with Friedman in the sense that modern day workers need to understand the skills of the future economy which include more "soft" right-brained creativity skills (ie graphic design), as opposed to "hard" technical skills (ie accounting).

I think Friedman and I are addressing different points.

I'm making reference to the value created by industry sectors. "Hard" value being that which produces long-run exponential growth. I.e. the development of the microprocessor - this one industry spawned 1,000s more in its wake. Or, what we are seeing now with the development of complex smartphones and mobile software - entirely new and different ways of doing business are developing exponentially with their platform as a basis.

"Soft" value doesn't do this. A new type of Hedge Fund that uses a proprietary method of trading to beat its competition isn't spawning new industries or exponential growth. It is a complex form of arbitrage that finds a hole in the market system and exploits it until sucked dry. No long term "hard" value created.

Ryan Graves · 1 month ago

Word.