The Two Economic Mindsets

There are essentially two kinds of players in every economy. They are typically represented by the two ends of the economic see-saw; demand and supply.

Generally, human beings can be categorized into either of these groups based on their economic mindset; there are producers and consumers. In many respects these two economic mindsets also align closely with Seth Godins' Hunters and Farmers just as well as they do with Mensah Otabil's Jacob and Esau in his book "Buy the Future''.

We clearly must have players on the two ends of the see-saw to have any economies at all. Imagine that everyone was a producer or alternatively a consumer; that is clearly not sustainable given the level of sophistication of our living systems. Perhaps in the primitive world, everyone could have survived by producing what they needed and consuming it.

In our world it is not tenable to simply say be a producer or consumer, you must be both. What's critical to your survival and building wealth is to ensure that you produce what people want and you consume what you need.