During the Industrial Park era, economic engines ran on either capitalism or socialism.
Capitalism percolated wealth from the mass pool of consumers up to the storage vats of investors. This process worked well when there were enough cash rich consumers to keep the percolation flowing. The flow tended to dry up when the investors failed to trickle enough cash back to consumers leaving them jobless and often cash starved.
Socialism was supposed to correct the cash flow problem by attaching siphon lines to the storage vats. Whenever too much wealth accumulated in the vats, it could be siphoned out and manually sent back into consumer pockets. This worked well until the siphons began to take out more wealth than was percolating into the storage vats. The overflow of cash into consumer pockets could only be remanded by decreasing the real value of the cash in their pockets. So anything that cost one dollar yesterday required a dollar and a half today.
After extensive analysis of the pros and cons of each economic process, residents of the Global Village found that the consumer was the single point of failure in both capitalism and socialism. Too little cash in consumer pockets rippled into all sectors of the Industrial Park. This recession in the flow of cash forced Small Business owners to close their shops and move to more lucrative sites. Closed shops meant unemployment and decreased tax revenues. Decreased revenues led to budget cuts for schools which required furloughing teachers. Police and firemen suffered the same fate. Unless the cash flow could be increased quickly, this downward spiral decimated the quality of life beyond repair.
Residents also found that recessions do not end themselves. In fact, the prospect of falling into abject poverty sends fear into the hearts of capitalists. So they hold onto their wealth and cut off any trickle down cash flow. Without the hope of increased cash flow, the consumer is left despondent and discouraged. The cash engine not only stalls, it freezes up. The only tool powerful enough to unfreeze the cash flow was Federal Taxation. Thus was born the concept of socialism, more commonly known as wealth redistribution.
Using an unbridled power to tax wealth, a whole plethora of new tax policies was put forth. Wealthy Individuals as well as Corporations were subtly, and sometimes overtly, disposed of their cash reserves. In turn, this cash was quickly distributed to consumers in the form of welfare checks, food stamps, unemployment compensation, and even grants-in-aid for schools and community services. The sole objective was to get cash into the hands of consumers as quickly as possible.
Initially, this approach met its objective. The cash engine thawed and consumers began to percolate cash back to investors. Although done with reluctance, the investors again trickled cash back into consumer pockets. All went well until both investors and consumers discovered the art of skimming off the top. This surfaced in the form of welfare cheating, overcharges, price gouging, tax evasion, and unabashed theft. The Industrial Park was plagued by this malady throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st Century.
Residents vowed to end this plague and find a new economic process to sustain the Global Village. They reasoned that if consumers were the single point of failure in both capitalism and socialism, then that is where the solution would be found. They were right.
Using a combination of Big Data and Consumer Surveillance techniques, they designed a self correcting process that created wealth and distributed it at the speed of thought. Just as a Supermarket is able to restock shelves as quickly as products are being sold, so residents of the Global Village are able to acquire any product or service on-demand. Likewise, the skills and talents of every resident are available on-demand. When a critical need surfaces anywhere in the Global Village, it is matched with producers and the need is met.
Big Data and Consumer Surveillance are used to maintain a level playing field. The concept of rich and poor does not exist. Everyone consumes and everyone produces. No one is required to produce or consume. Big Data keeps track of the inherent value of both goods and services so that every resident can participate in the exchange with full transparency.