

Are S&P 500 firms now 5/6 “dark matter” or intangibles? - davidw
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/04/are-firms-now-56-dark-matter-or-intangibles.html

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nostrademons
Another possibility is that the increasing complexity of the modern economy
has made the biggest barrier to entry simply holding the attention of a
consumer and getting them to remember your name. This would also explain why
companies that hold consumers' attention (like Google or Facebook) get huge
valuations while holding basically nothing in the form of tangible assets, and
why advertising is an increasingly large sector of the economy. It'd also
explain why trademarks, domain names, and brands are guarded so fiercely, and
worth so much.

The ideal business is one where your consumers do the job of shutting out
competition for you. That way, even if somebody were to copy you exactly,
build a better product, and charge less, nobody would buy from them. We're
pretty close to that point right now, and it lets the companies that _are_ in
companies' minds charge monopoly rents.

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tim333
The article's a bit vague as to what figures they are talking about with the
5/6th thing. Book value of replacement cost or something else and if
replacement, who estimated it?

It's interesting though, the huge shift.

