Reading: The Potential of the New Economy

Read the text and answer the questions.

The New Economy is a buzzword describing new types of businesses that are growing in the market. Basically, this term turned up in the context of the transition from a manufacturer-based to a service-based economy. The New Economy probably started in the late 1990s when high tech tools, such as the Internet and powerful computers appeared on the market. And since then, business has never been the same.

In the new business era almost anybody with some basic IT-related skills can set up a successful company on the web. That’s because there are actually no barriers, so if you’ve got access to the Internet and a credit card, you’re in business. A lot of innovations help to make this possible. The first, of course, is the information power of the internet – if you don’t know an answer, there is someone out there on the web who will. The second innovation is the idea of using design programs that can take your ideas and transform them into digital data. You design something and the program works out how it can be produced.

It’s never been so easy to implement business ideas. That’s a good chance for entrepreneurs but a big challenge for countries to regulate and control new business.