Service Oriented Economy

• The biggest change in economics caused by technology is the shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-oriented one. Before the invention of the Internet, services like accounting or writing had to be transmitted by mail, which resulted in significant time lag -- enough to make it uneconomical for some businesses. By having instantaneous information, service-based industries were able to expand to the entire country and grow rapidly. For example, investors can now contact trading firms via website instead of having to meet an actual broker.
  
  

Automated Trading

• Automated trading has changed the landscape of investing. Gone are the days when it took days or even weeks to accrue the necessary information to make a trade. Now smart programs shift through gigabytes of market data to time their investments and sell off points. Derivatives went from being an esoteric investment vehicle to a market mover because computers were able to do the math on all the variables involved in the space of seconds. Arguably this has also exposed certain weaknesses in the markets that the derivatives are based on, like housing, though a skilled human trader could have also acted upon those markets with equal pressure.
  
  

Lower Cost Production

• Robotization of assembly lines has drastically lowered the cost of many items to the point of lowering the advantage of economies of scale. In the past, a company could become a behemoth in the market by leveraging its size to squash competition. It was simply too hard for a small company to ramp up, as that would necessitate complex negotiations with entrenched unions, the heavy investment in factories and land, and the creation of the myriad of support services like human resources departments and health-care plans. Robots, on the other hand, need no pay, can work on holidays, do not strike, take up far less space and can be bought by both big and small companies.
  
  

Lower Transportation Costs

• Even though the economy is more service-oriented now, it still has physical goods that must be transported. However, the creation of cargo container ships has drastically lowered these costs. By having goods transported in standardized cargo containers that can be loaded onto ship, truck or train, costs can be lowered due to ease of transportation. Union costs can also be reduced due to the automation of seaports and ships. For example, most Maersk (the largest and most successful shipping company, which now flies under Singapore flags for tax reasons) ships now sail with fewer than 30 men, which is significant, considering their ships carry thousands of cargo containers.