Information economy
Information economy is an economy with an increased emphasis on informational activities as well as information industry, where information is valued as the capital good. the term was coined by Marc Porat, a graduate student at Stanford University, who would later co-found General Magic.
Manuel Castells states that information economy is non mutually exclusive with manufacturing economy. He finds that some countries such as Germany & Japan exhibit the informatization of manufacturing processes. In a typical conceptualization, however, information economy is considered a "stage" or "phase" of an economy, coming after stages of hunting, agriculture, and manufacturing. This conceptualization can be widely observed regarding information society, a closely related but wider concept.
There are numerous characterizations of the transformations some economies have undergone. high-tech economy, late-capitalism, post-Fordism, and global economy are among the most frequently used terms, having some overlaps and contradictions among themselves. Closer terms to information economy would increase knowledge economy.