ABSTRACT
One thing is for sure as we observe radical changes to the technological basis for our industrial systems – the economy of the future is going to look substantially different to the economy of the present. As with the third, second, and first industrial revolutions before it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will radically alter the structure and function of our socioeconomic systems, and what was a successful or even viable way of life and doing business in the past will by no means necessarily be so in the future. To develop an economic analysis of the convergent technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will apply two theoretical perspectives. With this simplification of the convergent technologies underlying the Fourth Industrial Revolution in hand, we adopt a unique theoretical perspective on socioeconomic systems and their evolution: the “Brisbane Club” model.
