Economic Definition of paper economy. Defined.
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Term paper economy Definition: Markets, exchanges, and assorted economic activity that deal with legal or paper claims on physical assets rather than the physical assets. The vast majority of activities for the paper economy take place through financial markets. The paper (or financial) economy is based legal claims on these physical goods and resources. The term paper economy is used because these legal claims historically have been pieces of paper--paper that you can't eat, wear, or live in to satisfy wants and needs. However, as technology progresses, much of the paper is giving way to electronic data storage.
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