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A few years ago Alan Greenspan went before the US Congress in an attempt to explain the dramatic economic transformation sweeping across the planet. The problem was that economics and even the english language simply didn’t equip Mr. Greenspan with the vocabulary to describe it. This isn’t because Greenspan isn’t erudite - quite the contrary. The problem is that economics is a language created to describe the world as it was in the 19th and 20th centuries. In other words, economics is a good way to talk about all the things that used to be important.

But everything has changed. In the space of just a single generation the global economy has shifted from a reliance on physical capital to intellectual capital. It is no longer the tangible ingredients that make up the recipe for economic success, but the intangible ones. Ideas, innovation, technology, knowledge, and creativity now dominate at every level of the global economy, from small companies, to multinationals, and even to entire nations.

Of course Greenspan did what great scientists always do when encountering a new phenomenon they cannot describe - he made up a new word. He simply said, “We are entering the era of ideanomics.” And there it was, in one word. It was as brilliant and elegant as it could possibly be. Ideanomics: the economics of ideas. Here is a word that reduces an almost incomprehensibly complex global phenomenon down to the level of perfect clarity. Virtually anyone that hears or reads it immediately understands its meaning. It is a seminal dissertation in a single word, a sumptuous banquet in a single bite, and a scientific expedition in a single step . Ironically it is, in itself, an idea that is the very model of economy.

But ideanomics is more than just cute and pithy. It is an astonishingly bold proclamation, declaring the inextricable fusion of the intellectual and the material realms. It shines a naked light on the link between the progress of ideas and that of the human condition. Had this word been invented just 20 years earlier it would likely have been derided as a hysterical folly. But spoken as it was at the dawn of the new Millenium, it has hardly been noticed.

Throughout history, economic ideas have often aspired to the ideological heights of religions, variously joining and competing with religions for the opportunity to define a person’s behavior and even his very existence. So by the time Greenspan had proclaimed a new era of ideanomics, the world had already converted to the new industrial religion of “innovation”. But we have only just begun to understand how this changes the rules of the game, and how it will ultimately change virtually everything else.

This blog is devoted to exploring the meaning of “ideanomics” and its radical assertion that the world economy is driven by ideas. Although this may sound highly academic and abstract, it is actually very practical, because “ideanomics” is an extremely practical concept. The focus is on the practical experiences of working in the idea economy, and particularly about managing inventions, patents and other types of intellectual property. Ideanomics is about the way that ideas drive economic activity, and particularly how they transform into intellectual assets and ultimately create value. Topics of interest include business and technology innovation, intellectual property and patents, intellectual asset management (IAM), strategic management of IP, technology commercialization, IP valuation and finance, and much more. I hope you enjoy the blog and return often to learn and contribute.

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