Compressing the Societal Foundation on Blockchain.
As the author Douglas Adams said, “Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
A look across that spectrum reveals a dynamic and changing societal foundation. All of the technology advancements have been driving down transaction costs, and that affects the way our society is organized. Fire, the wheel, clocks… cars, internet… it keeps coming. The lower the transaction costs, the more efficient markets will be, and the smaller and more efficient firms can be.
In a world where markets are extremely efficient, it would be very easy to find and measure things (low triangulation costs), it would be very easy to bargain and pay (low transfer costs), and it would be easy to trust the counter party to fulfill the contract (low trust costs).
Consumers would need to own very few things. Renting would be cheaper than owning.
It’s hard to be aware of how this evolution is really progressing because the parts that became common by the time we were born and we take for granted.
The exciting next steps look to disrupt the last point in the triangle, trust costs. Block chain technologies are proving to be a valuable piece in the puzzle to further this evolution. The result should be further democratization of our markets. And hopefully, more transparency for our governments.
Isn’t this really just how capitalism inherently provides the mechanism for disruption in all markets?
The long term cycles of iteration to get us here can add a dimension of clarity for what’s ahead. In his article “Markets Are Eating The World” February 28, 2019 By Taylor Pearson, he illuminates the big picture transformation taking place. A Fascinating Deep Dive!
Copyright © 2019 LaSalle St. Investment Advisors, LLC., All rights reserved.