What Is the New Economy?

The new economy refers to a new economic form. Different industrial forms dominated by society determine different social and economic forms. In different historical periods, the new economy has different connotations. At present, the new economy refers to the intelligent economic form in which innovative knowledge dominates knowledge and creative industries become leading industries. ^[1-4]

New economy

(Economic phenomenon)

The so-called "new economy" is the continuous economic growth and low economic growth based on the information technology revolution and institutional innovation.

The so-called "new economy" is a new economic phenomenon based on the continuous growth of the economy based on the information technology revolution and institutional innovation, low inflation, and low unemployment.

Since the 1990s, the U.S. economy has experienced a sustained high rate of growth that was rare after World War II. Led by the information technology department, the US economy has grown by 4% since April 1991, while the unemployment rate has fallen from 6% to 4%, and the inflation rate has continued to decline. Excluding food and energy, the US consumer product inflation rate in 1999 was only 1.9%, the smallest increase in 34 years.

This economic phenomenon has been described as the "new economy". United States"

The term "new economy" first appeared in a set of articles published on December 30, 1996 by Business Weekly. The new economy refers to the information technology (IT) revolution and the economy led by the high-tech industry under the background of economic globalization.

The new economy is an economic and cultural achievement brought by informatization. The new economy has low unemployment, low inflation, low

The "new economy" in the United States has many new features that are different from the past, mainly in the following five aspects:

(1) Continuous economic growth

Since the recovery began in April 1991, the U.S. economy has continued to grow for more than 120 months, far exceeding the 50-month period of the average post-war growth of the U.S. economy, becoming the third longest period of economic growth in the U.S. Since the U.S. economy first emerged from the global economic crisis in the early 1990s, the average annual growth rate of the U.S. economy has surpassed major competitors such as Japan and Germany. The United States has relatively recovered its strength in the global economy.

(2) The number of employed people is increasing, and the unemployment rate is steadily decreasing.

With the adjustment of the US economic structure since the mid-1980s and the "corporate restructuring" with layoffs as one of its main contents, US structural unemployment has become increasingly prominent and the employment situation has deteriorated sharply. The unemployment rate in the United States rose to 6.7 percent in 1991, and the employment situation continued to worsen in 1992. The annual unemployment rate was as high as 7.4 percent, and the number of unemployed reached more than 9 million. Since 1993, the employment situation in the United States has begun to improve, and the unemployment rate has steadily decreased. In December 1998, it fell to 4.3%, which is the lowest level in the United States for 30 years.

(3) The price increase has remained low, and the government s long-term inflationary pressure has been eliminated.

After the consumer price index fell to 3O from 1992, it has not seen a rebound so far, and it was only 1% in 1998. The GDP price contraction index has gradually decreased from 4.3% in 1990 to 2% since 1993. In the fourth quarter of 1997, the index only increased by 1.5%, and the entire year was 1.8%. , The lowest point since 1965.

(4) Strong growth in export trade

In the past 10 years, the significant increase in American labor productivity and labor cost advantages have increased the competitiveness of American products in the international market. From 1991 to 1994, the labor productivity of the US manufacturing industry increased by nearly 12 percentage points, exceeding the growth rates of Japan and Western European countries.

While US labor productivity increased rapidly, its unit labor cost grew slowly in the 1990s. As a result, the international competitiveness of American products has significantly increased, which enabled the United States to regain its success in the semiconductor and car industries in the early 1990s. No. 1 in the world.

(5) The federal fiscal deficit decreases year by year

As the Clinton administration adopted a strong tax increase and reduction policy, the US federal fiscal deficit gradually decreased from US $ 289.2 billion in 1992 to US $ 116.8 billion in 1996. The proportion of the federal fiscal deficit to the gross domestic product (GDP) was also 4.93% in 1992 fell to less than 3% in 1996. The actual US federal fiscal deficit in 1997 was only $ 22.6 billion.

In February 1998, the US Congress finally passed the Clinton Administration's budget balance plan, and strived to eliminate the federal fiscal deficit by 1999. In fact, the US Federal Government achieved a fiscal surplus of 72.8 billion US dollars in 1998.

There are three main characteristics of the new economy. First, companies are increasingly focusing on shifting value from tangible assets to intangible assets. Business expansion activities are becoming more frequent. Compared with the old economic era, more attention is paid to the use and control of intangible assets, while more attention is paid to the value brought by intangible assets.

For example, Marriott is a world-renowned hotel management group. It never builds its own hotels or owns any hotel entities. It is only responsible for hotel management. At the same time, companies like SaraLee not only create brands, but also want to own them. They are brand owners. These companies not only do not organize production, but also rarely invest capital in fixed assets. They pay more attention to brand management.

Second, the value shifts from the company that provides the product to the company that provides not only the product but also a low-cost and highly personalized product, or a company that can provide a solution to the problem.

For example, the world-renowned DELL company, the computers it sells can be assembled according to the requirements of each customer to achieve a high degree of personalization, while its price is relatively low; IBM provides customers with solutions to problems, they have a complete set of processes , At any time for customers to solve various problems encountered in the process of using the product, and accept all kinds of customer consultation.

Finally, companies can easily reduce costs through data management, which is another important feature of the new economy. Jack Welch used to say "change or die" at his marketer meetings. This is not a pleasant thing for a GE person, but it works. Now he often says "embracing the web, not just a web page." To embrace the Internet, rather than just give a web page, it means that having a web page does not mean that it has been networked. The web page is only the basis of online marketing. ^[6]

Not only the United States, but the Western European economy is showing similar signs. Europe has long been plagued by stagnant growth, limited labor use and difficult government budgets. Happily, economic vigor is beginning to show up here. After years of stagnation in economic development, the growth rate of the Eurozone, which consists of 11 countries, exceeded 3% in 1999. Unemployment was a major social problem that plagued continental Europe, and today its unemployment rate has fallen below 10%. France, the second largest economy in the euro area, has also created the best job creation in the private sector in 30 years. Companies from Helsinki to Lisbon have invested heavily in new information technology.

As a result, Thomas Mayer, chief economist at Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt, concluded: 'There is no doubt that a new economy is taking shape in the euro area. "He said that the rapid growth of knowledge-led companies and the complete deregulation of markets such as telecommunications clearly demonstrate this."

It should increase capital and labor productivity like the United States. He added, "The key is whether the new economy can gain a foothold in Europe and whether growth has enough stamina to trigger an investment boom like the United States. Saint-Etienne, a consulting expert in Paris, estimates that if an investment boom develops, the new economy will grow rapidly and it will be replaced by the "old world". Europe is expected to usher in a new era of prosperity.

The "new economy" is also dawning in Asia. Although the financial crisis broke out in East and Southeast Asian countries and regions two or three years ago, it has now emerged from the crisis. Both the government and the people are full of optimistic hopes for the new economy. After more than two years of crisis, managers and decision makers of large companies are eagerly looking forward to the huge returns from the expansion of information technology, the development of the Internet and global business practices. The most exciting topic on many boards is the triad of personal computers, smartphones and e-commerce, and the tremendous impact it has on productivity and consumption in the region.

As if the spring tide was coming, when the first spring of the century came, almost all the economic people and enterprises around the world put their eyes on this economic phenomenon: the new economy originated in the United States. Being noticed and studied by so many people in such a short period of time has proven the value and significance of the existence of a new economy.

What exactly is the new economy? Was it surging like a tide, and then withdrawn silently? Was it like a bubble, flooding the field of vision at once, and disappearing in a flash? What does the emergence of the new economy mean? What does it mean? What is revealed? People are discussing, guessing, and finding answers.

As for the discussion of the connotation and substance of the new economy, there are divergent opinions at present, it can be said that benevolent sees benevolence and wise sees wisdom.

The American Business Week, which first promoted the idea of a "new economy," defined the term, saying "the" new economy "does not mean that inflation is dead, nor does it mean that we will not have another recession, or The business cycle has been wiped out; it does not mean that the stock market will be free from self-adjustment and rise forever, just like (in mythology) Douban will go straight to the sky. Naturally, it does not mean that the Asian financial crisis will not affect the United States. " ,

"When talking about the" new economy, "we mean two trends that have emerged in recent years. The first is the globalization of the economy and the second is the information technology revolution."

There are many controversies about the meaning of "new economy". Some scholars believe that the key to scientifically interpreting the "new economy" is to grasp that the American economy is changing from a traditional economy-an industrial economy to a new type of economy-a knowledge economy. In. Because the current economy is undergoing fundamental changes and transformation. Therefore, the economic phenomena, economic characteristics, economic concepts, and economic theories associated with the traditional economy will inevitably change. The "new economy" of the United States has begun to show the typical characteristics of the knowledge economy, which is mainly reflected in the tremendous contribution of the information technology revolution to the economy and the sustainability of its development.

Some scholars believe that the so-called "new economy" is essentially a knowledge economy, and the knowledge economy refers to a new type of economy that is different from previous industries that used traditional industries as the pillar industry and mainly relied on natural resources. This new type of economy is based on high-tech industries and is mainly based on intellectual resources.

Some scholars believe that the meaning of the "new economy" in the United States needs to be further explored. First, since the "new economy" is formed by relying on economic globalization and the information technology revolution, this is an economic phenomenon unique to the United States at this stage. Or is it an international economic phenomenon that will gradually develop in developed countries? Secondly, is the "new economy" in the United States a phenomenon that has existed for a period of time, or is it a phenomenon of long-term stability? Once the economic growth stagnates, inflation increases or unemployment rises sharply, will the "new economy" disappear? Third, in terms of economic globalization and economic openness, the United Kingdom and France are not inferior to the United States. Why is the United States unemployment rate lower, and

What about higher unemployment rates in Britain and France? Why did the United States form a "new economy" while Britain and France did not form a "new economy"? If these issues are not explained in theory, the true meaning of the "new economy" is difficult to reveal.

Some other economists, such as the famous American economist Krugman, have a negative attitude toward the "new economy". They believe that some changes in American economic life are caused by temporary factors, and there is no fundamental and dynamic Sexual changes, the business cycle will still occur repeatedly.

Zhang Ruimin, the first Chinese entrepreneur and president of Haier Group who took part in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum twice, believes that the so-called new economy should be based on digital knowledge, network technology, innovation as the core, and new Technology-driven, sustainable economy.

The famous economist Fan Gang believes that "new economy" is actually given different meanings on different occasions. Initially, the new economy was used to refer to the state of the U.S. economy in recent years: long-term high growth, low inflation, and low unemployment based on technological progress and globalization; this has traditionally described unemployment The so-called "Phillips curve" for correlations no longer applies (hence the "new" economy). But later, with the soaring of "Internet stocks", many people at home and abroad are referring to the so-called "new technology industry" or "technology sector" represented by the information and network industries as the "new economy" on many occasions, while others The so-called "traditional industry" is called the "old economy".

Based on the above, we can reach a consensus that the so-called new economy is mainly a concept based on the developed economy represented by the US economy, that is, the type of sustained high growth, low inflation, rapid technological progress, An economic state with high economic efficiency and global allocation of resources.

Although the new economy is a new concept that is based on the economic development of the United States in the past ten years, it depends on two cornerstones of dependence and development: the global informatization brought about by the technological revolution in the information field and the impact on countries. The weakening of the economic boundary of the global economic integration, its role and impact has far exceeded the national borders of the United States, so the new economy is no longer a patent of the United States economy, and its far-reaching impact and development trends may become the mainstream of future global economic development Form and operation mode.

The reason why the new economy is "new" comes from the driving force behind its emergence and development-the new revolutionary significance of the information and technological revolution. Unlike any previous technological revolution, the information technology revolution is not changing the way humans use natural resources. Although its impact will inevitably lead to the improvement of human utilization of natural resources, it is achieved by changing the way human information is transmitted and stored. For a long time, under the cover of low labor productivity, the restrictive effect of insufficient information on human economic activities has been ignored. Several technological revolutions since the Industrial Revolution have greatly improved human productivity, and information bottlenecks have gradually expanded. width,

Karl Popper, the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, first separated information from the real world with a forward-looking vision, as the third element of a world that was side by side with matter and consciousness, which was confirmed from the height of philosophy. The profound and significant impact of the information technology revolution.

The rapid development of information technology is not only a revolution in the transmission and storage of human information, but also puts forward innovative requirements for the organization of human economy and society. E-commerce, the information superhighway, the products of these information eras are being comprehensively produced. Affects human production and life. Today, the information age has just arrived, the impact of the information technology revolution on humans has just begun to emerge, and the new economy has just dawned. A newer, more beautiful, and faster information world will surely be revealed to people in the near future.

Therefore, it can be considered that the essence of the new economy is informatization and globalization. The core of the new economy is high-tech innovation and a series of innovations in other areas driven by it. The reality of the new economy is global economic integration. The advancement of the information technology revolution and the development of the new economy will inevitably lead to the acceleration of the global integration process. The new economy is an unprecedented technology-based and innovative economy in the history of human economic development.

Difference between old and new economy

We are at the juncture of the turn of the century. The old economy will eventually be replaced by a new economy that is more adapted to the needs of the new era. So what are the specific differences between what we call the old and the new? Obviously, the most fundamental difference between them is that the old economy, which is based on manufacturing, is characterized by standardization, scale, modelization, efficiency and hierarchy, while the new economy is based on information technology. Above all, the pursuit is differentiation, personalization, networking and speed.

Next, let us look at the deeper differences between marketing in the old and new economies. The old economy relied on the product itself to organize and develop. It focused on profitable direct transactions, focused on the level of business performance, focused on the interests of shareholders, and used marketing as a marketing tool. It usually used advertising to create brands. Lack of standards of customer satisfaction always over-commits consumers, but it is difficult to fulfill their promises. ^[7]

Marketing in the new economy is very different from this. Although the new economy also focuses on the level of business performance, the new economy itself supports and develops with a strong customer base. It pays more attention to the customer's lifetime value and the interests of shareholders, marketing focuses on people-oriented, and creates brands through practical actions. Strive to maintain and develop customer resources. The new economy requires companies to have standards for customer satisfaction and customer retention, while at the same time always being able to fulfill their promises to customers.

Graphic

Illustration: the new economy spreads across all sectors ^[8]

Illustration: the new economy spreads across all sectors ^[8]