Mastering Unreal® Technology, Volume I

Chapter 11. Social Economy

The service economy we see all around us is the result of a 300-year socioeconomic revolution. In Chapter 1, “Dawn of the Social Age,” we traced the path that transformed a rural society, driven by an agricultural economy, into a manufacturing society driven by the Industrial Revolution. This revolution happened through massive economies of scale, which were the results of automation and standardization.

These industrial efficiencies opened opportunities to create and offer services that provided higher economic returns than those obtained through manufacturing. Services soon became both an important differentiator and a key growth element for many businesses. In the United States, more than 60 percent of ...