It is not exactly my purpose to enlighten all buisinessmen or economists. I don't care of those who would take more trouble in detecting language formalities than getting the point. What we are discussing is that certain things in market economy walk like a pyramid scheme, quark like a pyramid scheme, and most importantly, expand and collapse like a pyramid scheme.
wchurchill - how exactly is this different to what's happening today?
Given that there's really very little of the technological innovation that you describe happening today - there's a lot of 'cheaper', but comparatively little 'new', I think the pyramid description is a perfectly apt and revealing one.
As to understanding the implications of pyramid marketing, versus speculation, versus "bubbles", there is plenty to read and gain insight. It doesn't matter to me if you and das monde choose to confuse them.
On the other hand, the Russian GKO bonds are often given as an example of a pyramid scheme, though they were traded within the stock market structure. If we call this case a "created pyramid structure" in the stock market, then it makes compatable to speak about "emergent pyramid schemes" in stock markets. That is what I am talking about.
For most consistency, the cases of Ponzi & pyramid scams, matrix schemes, and created/emergent pyramid schemes in stock markets should be grouped to one term. You may come up with a better English word combination, but here is a formal definition, as general as I can:
Entrant growth - a trading structure where profit margins of beneficiaries come predominantly from new entrants.
The special case of entrant growth in stock markets can be called... bubble growth!?! Unless there are objections from bubble specialists, we may offer a mechanism how the bubbles grow in economy, or even quantify them perhaps!
