Outsider recently lunched in the corporate meeting rooms of a large bank which owns a large fund manager and was regaled with insights by one of its boffins into how the world is moving from making stuff to selling ideas and services.
Apparently the provision of services is where it is at and nations and economies making things to sell to other people is so last century.
While Outsider believes this may indeed be the case — after all he works for an organisation that sells words and pictures to people who sell ideas and concepts to other people — he believes the people making stuff will be around for a while longer because we all need phones, tablets and computers to access these services.
However Outsider reckons the boffin got it right when stating that many governments are unsure how to quantify the economic value of the services on offer in the new digital economy. Every time he speaks to an adviser he is told they are unloved and undervalued, particularly by people who are, or aspire to be, in government.
