ABSTRACT
The central event of the 20th century is the overthrow of matter. In technology, economics, and the politics of nations, wealth — in the form of physical resources — has been losing value and significance. Most of the knowledge in cyberspace lives the most temporary (or so we think) existence: people voice, on a telephone wire or microwave, travels through space at the speed of light, reaches the ear of people listener, and is gone forever. Clear and enforceable property rights are essential for markets to work. Defining them is a central function of government. Most of us have known that for a long time. Inexpensive knowledge destroys economies-of-scale. Customized knowledge permits 'just in time' production for an ever rising number of goods. Technological progress creates new means of serving old markets, turning one-time monopolies into competitive battlegrounds. The incoherence of political life is mirrored in disintegrating personalities.
