Capitalism without capital

278 pages

English language

Published Sept. 11, 2018

ISBN:: 978-0-691-17503-4
OCLC Number:: 983824514

(5 reviews)

"Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, R&D, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, from tech firms and pharma companies to coffee shops and gyms, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the big economic changes of the last decade. The rise of intangible investment is, Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake argue, an underappreciated cause of phenomena from economic inequality to stagnating productivity. Haskel and Westlake bring together a decade of research on how to …

"Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, R&D, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, from tech firms and pharma companies to coffee shops and gyms, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the big economic changes of the last decade. The rise of intangible investment is, Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake argue, an underappreciated cause of phenomena from economic inequality to stagnating productivity. Haskel and Westlake bring together a decade of research on how to measure intangible investment and its impact on national accounts, showing the amount different countries invest in intangibles, how this has changed over time, and the latest thinking on how to assess this. They explore the unusual economic characteristics of intangible investment, and discuss how these features make an intangible-rich economy fundamentally different from one based on tangibles. Capitalism without Capital concludes by presenting three possible scenarios for what the future of an intangible world might be like, and by outlining how managers, investors, and policymakers can exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow their businesses, portfolios, and economies."--Jacket flap.

2 editions

bwaber reviewed Capitalism without capital by Haskel, Jonathan

An Excellent View Into How the Changing Nature of Products and Services Relates to Accounting

5 stars

Most of the time we don't think about how companies and governments account for investments, assets, and costs, but it is essential for our understanding of the state of these entities and how they're changing over time. Haskel and Westlake detail the gradual shift from easily accountable, tangible production making up the bulk of economic growth to today's world where investments in processes, knowledge, and intellectual property make up the majority. In doing so they illustrate why this difference is critical for everything from investment in and prioritization of government policies to investment strategies and vehicles to corporate strategies.

There are a few hiccups in this journey, particularly in the cursory and somewhat off treatment of topics better categorized as organizational behavior and urban planning (and the anecdotal takes of some demonstrably misguided and failing entrepreneurs should be relegated to the dustbin). Still, those sections don't take the shine off …

Most of the time we don't think about how companies and governments account for investments, assets, and costs, but it is essential for our understanding of the state of these entities and how they're changing over time. Haskel and Westlake detail the gradual shift from easily accountable, tangible production making up the bulk of economic growth to today's world where investments in processes, knowledge, and intellectual property make up the majority. In doing so they illustrate why this difference is critical for everything from investment in and prioritization of government policies to investment strategies and vehicles to corporate strategies.

There are a few hiccups in this journey, particularly in the cursory and somewhat off treatment of topics better categorized as organizational behavior and urban planning (and the anecdotal takes of some demonstrably misguided and failing entrepreneurs should be relegated to the dustbin). Still, those sections don't take the shine off a phenomenal book on a critical topic. Highly recommend