Knowledge Economy

So are we a economy of knowledge or are we a knowledge-based economy? These sound very similar and one might think they are one in the same but these actually vary slightly in terms of a knowledege economy.

According to Wikipedia a economy of knowledge is focused on the production and management of knowledge in the frame of economic constraints vs. the knowledge based economy where the use of knowledge technologies produce economic benifits as well as job creation. It further states that in knowledge economy, knowledge is a product, in knowledge-based economy, knowledge is a tool.

So which one are we? Well to be honest we are both, evolving more and more each day and swaying back and forth between the two.

I really like how this citing goes on to state that a key concept of the knowledge economy is that education and knowledge can be refered to as "human capital." It makes complete sense in the fact when you scrape everything away from the surface, knowledge and education are two major factors for success and is really what gets you the most out of what you want in life and society.

To better yourself after highschool you go on to college to build-up your "human capital" by gaining knowledge assets with every chapter in a book you read, every exam you take, every powerpoint slide you review, and every class you pass.

Gaining knowledge assets builds your "human capital" and makes you more of a "human commodity."