I feel that although socioeconomic survival depends on business, it is a symbiotic relationship in that socioeconomic progress has a direct correlation to market stability and growth. When either international or local markets falter or fail socioeconomic progress in the area will be stunted or even recede. But when business is booming and markets are on the rise the socioeconomic status of an area will rise with it. In short, business is a means for socioeconomic progress.
Capitalism in the world markets of today is a major factor in socioeconomic progress. Free trade in-between not only governments but also individuals on separate continents has created new markets and money. These sorts of actions infuse countries with money that previously did not exist and help to stimulate more business in return. The nature of our network age reflects this evolving social and political reality. Unfortunately, the movement from one national status to another often came about through war. The growth of market economies, world trade and the WTO, globalization and worldwide networks followed the rise of freely elected governments promoting market economies. Today, over 65 percent of the world's people live under freely elected governments. That number was just 30%, 30 years ago. And 54 of the 176 countries monitored by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) in 1999 had a per capita GDP of less than two dollars a day, but it is rising. .
In this connected world, people are awakening to the reality that they have a newfound opportunity to improve their standard of living. Access to the web and other global communication media give everyone a taste of what is possible. With Global access to information networks, Technology often fools us by having unseen and unplanned effects. Like all technologies of the past, it can be applied in both positive and negative intent and effects. I suspect that the "idea of networks" will have both positive and negative consequences.
