Applying Keynes' thinking to e-commerce

The idea behind Keynes recommendation of increasing the money supply was to allow more non zero sum situations to be created. Arguable, these increased opportunities are created at the expense of people who have savings, but, as most savings are invested into these newly created opportunities the gains and losses are not easy to determine.

The actual gain of Keynes' strategy comes as a result of the whole economy becoming more efficient as an increasing number of people are employed and their employment effort is used more efficiently. This again is another paradox. Why should employees work more efficiently if there is a shortage of labor and they are in high demand?

The answer is that entrepreneurs and big business employers will have to compete more expertly to acquire their co-operation. They will have to pay them higher wages and this they can only do if they are directing the labor efficiently. The net result is entrepreneurs and employers will have to look for the most profitable areas of trade and commerce and this must be where the greatest improvements in efficiencies are to be found. Any employers stuck in a business that isn't increasing efficiency in some way will not be able to make enough money to compete successfully in the labor market.

(Note: This Keynsian view is in sharp contrast to the views of many post Keynsian economists who recommend maintaining a pool of unemployment to force workers to work more efficiently in order to maintain their jobs. It is also in contrast to the monetarists who want to keep the money supply constant.)

Seeing e-business and e-commerce in this Keynsian way, it is not hard to see the potential for huge profits in e-business and e-commerce because the rapid advances in computer and communication technology offer ample opportunities for increased efficiency over Industrial Age techniques and methods. Increased efficiency means saved energy and this energy thus becomes available to be shared in non zero sum games. The winners in these games are going to be those who most effectively learn how to seek and obtain reciprocal acts of co-operation.

The primary game then is not so much looking for profitable situations (these will be in plentiful supply), the real game is in competing for co-operation. This brings us back once again to communicating and dealing with people.