recession

From the Department of Wild Hypotheses

(update: providing a concrete example at the end of the text)

Second Life, OpenSim, web2.0, open source stuff are pointing to a possible different future for the global economy. In a very negative sense, this future announces itself through the current financial crisis. In a positive sense, extreme customization, collaboration and more egalitarian organizations make part of a bifurcation of the development of capitalism. However, there is a very considerable danger that the other part of the bifurcation may prevail: a more protectionist, authoritarian version of capitalism.

The basis of my hypothesis is the text The Depression: A Long-Term View from Professor Immanuel Wallerstein.