- The weightless economy, also known as the dematerialized economy, refers to the products and services that
- Have no weight, they are abstract or intangible – you cannot touch them because they have no mass.
- This refers to those sectors of the economy which produce stuff that weigh lighter than other sectors that manufacture traditional goods and services. For example, computer software – which we download online or obtain from a disc – has no weight; you cannot see or touch it, it is abstract. Other examples can be professional services.
- However, it is a product that consumers use and usually have to pay for if they want it. The term is used to emphasize the changing nature of economies as they increasingly concentrate on producing stuff that is intangible but also of much more valuable to consumers.
- Economic growth in the previous centuries depended largely on increasing the total quantity of physical inputs that went into production. Now, producing things of higher value requires the use of intellectual capital more than physical capital, which explains the rapid increase in the size of the weightless economy
