Well-regarded futurist Paul Saffo has been talking about a new economic age that he believes is now upon us. First came the producer economy in the early 20th Century, which “harnessed manufacturing in the service of satisfying the material desires of a newly prosperous working class and emergent middle class.” Then came the consumer economy in the middle of the century, in which “companies realized that they had a demand problem rather than a production problem and shifted their resources to finding new ways to sell their existing products.” Now comes the creator economy:
“Now we are entering a third age in which the central economic actor is someone who both produces and consumes in the same act. I like the term ‘creator,’ as this new kind of actor is doing something more fundamental than the mere sum of their simultaneous production and consumption. Creators are ordinary people whose everyday actions create value.”
So well put, and a really fascinating and useful framework for understanding why the things that worked so well in the last century are breaking down in this new century. Read Saffo’s full argument here.
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