It is no secret that the economic structure we present operate under is awful for most people. Look around the world and it is easy to see how so few share in the wealth that is created. No matter what the economic/political system, the average person is not doing so well.
In the United States, the conversation centers around the income inequality and the distribution of the wealth. We now operate under a system where the golden rule is applicable: he with the gold makes the rules.
Most people have issues paying their bills. Some might say excessive spending is the cause of this although that is only a fraction of the problem. Real wage growth was non-existent for the past three decades for most people. This is a situation I feel will only get worse as automation enters the picture.
While the world focuses upon the gloom and doom, I feel we are sitting upon the ideal answer. Crypto-economics is going to change everything. It is an economic model that attacks the two main problems that are the cause of economic uncertainty for most.
There are two things we see taking place on Steem that are different from what we see in the traditional economies.
Growth/Expansion
It is a simple premise that, over time, the goal is to growth the entire economy. Some countries, like the United States, traditionally did fairly well in this arena. Others, such as the Soviet Union or Cuba, failed miserably.
The idea is to keep creating more value and grow the whole. As the entire package gets bigger, everyone can share in more. Those countries that excelled at this saw the standard of living increase over time. The ones that did not, they lagged behind greatly.
Of course, everyone does not share in the pie evenly which, traditionally, is okay. Not everyone is making the same contribution yet most are benefiting to some degree. Again, look at a country like the United Stated from the end of World War II through the turn of the century for an example of how this worked.
The challenge is when it does not work.
Economic Distribution
Countries like England and other socialistic countries, over the years, offered a much better system of income equality than what is presently being seen. The challenge here, for the most part, is that it usually came at the cost of growth. In some ways this might be good except for the fact that we are seeing a situation where the growth in many of those countries is heading towards the negative. Even flat is a problem when you have an expanding population.
This situation is taking on added meaning because it seems every economic system is headed that way. Without getting into the economics, when you have so much going to servicing of debt along with financial engineering, things are not going to end up well.
Whatever happens, we know the distribution over the past few decades is only getting worse. Asset pumping benefited the select few while leaving the masses out. Technological advancement did wonders for society yet also helped to squeeze wages. It is difficult for workers to see wages increase when technological options exist to replace jobs.
There was an article that I came across last week that caught my attention. It talked about the fact that Ethereum created more unaccredited millionaires than all IPOs. The article was a bit of a clickbait yet it makes the point that Ethereum investors were not millionaires before investing while IPO investors (accredited investors) are millionaires.
https://www.cryptotapas.com/ethereum-made-more-unaccredited-investors-millionaires-mashinsky/
This is an example of crypto-economics at work. It allows the average person to participate.
Steem is a prime example of this and we see it happening. So looking at the two variables, we see both taking place on here.
The first is growth. We see the Steem ecosystem expanding. The value is going up on a consistent basis. We are seeing more users join along with an increase in development. Each new application adds value to the system since it is something else for people to use.
This is something we are going to see for a long time into the future. As long as we have a dedicated team of developers, which keeps expanding, we will see the value of the Steem ecosystem grow. Our virtual "pie" will get bigger.
Compare this to what we see with the global economy. This is something that is slowing, if not contracting, in most areas. While I do believe we will see a massive explosion over the next decade due to technology, the odds of it being outside the hands of a few is unlikely.
Which brings up the second point for the Steem ecosystem.
On here, we are seeing the distribution spreading out. Not only is this true for STEEM, but there are a number of other tokens already created that are tied to this blockchain. 
Crypto-economics is an incentive based system. This is very important. As the first variable is addressed, growth, the second MUST also follow along. It is impossible to have an significant growth without the distribution of tokens. They go hand in hand.
The reason why there is growth is because there are tokens distributed to those who are adding value.
They cannot be separated. We are well aware of how much value attention and activity provides. The question is who profits from it. Presently, the mega-corporations listed on Wall Street take the lion's share of the money.
On Steem, it is a much different situation. The tokens created by the different applications are distributed to the users. People are able to earn different tokens for the activities they engage in. The value they bring to the ecosystem (and sub-ecosystems) is rewarded. Tokens provide the ability for direct reward.
This is what crypto-economics is all about. We will see more applications being built on here which will attract more users. As the user base grows, those people will be adding to the value of the different platforms which will earn them tokens. This will lead to even more development, once again, drawing in more users.
It is a wonderful upward circle that occurs.
So while the rest of the world goes nuts about the economy, income inequality, and slowing growth, I take solace in knowing that crypto-economics is growing on a daily basis. We are seeing expansion all over the place. At the same time, on Steem at least, more tokens are flowing into more accounts on a daily basis. This will only increase as more applications come on board.
At the end of the day, the goals of both developers and users are aligned. This is something, for the most part, that does not take place in the traditional economy.
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