Over the last few months I have been recommending to Web 2.0 entrepreneurs that they check out “the Cult of the Amateur” by Andrew Keen.  It is a provocative book, which has caused strong reactions in many places.  It is interesting that a serial entrepreneur, steeped in the Web 2.0 culture of Silicon Valley, would suggest that the development of the Web, particularly Web 2.0 business models, is undermining and dumbing down our society.  Not exactly a welcome thesis in many quarters to be sure.

You can check out the author’s thoughts here in a recent television interview.  And, you could read the book, but for those of you that want a quick summary of his argument – the combination of anonymity, the rapid transfer of information, and the growing ease in authoring and distributing content, has created an information chaos, where existing means of measuring and evaluating information are being challenged and devalued.   

If you have had a pleasant summer caving in Montana you might have missed out on the fun that has been had in the financial markets over the summer.  Here’s a summary – the market for the creation and packaging of mortgages froze.  This resulted in the grinding to a virtual halt of origination and trading activities in unrelated corporate debt markets.  The world’s central banks stepped in to provide liquidity to grease the wheels of the debt markets. And, the stock market gyrated like a school yard seesaw with sugar rushing 8-year olds on each end.

Having brought everyone up to speed, what does this all mean to the technology entrepreneur. Should you be worried about this?  Well, yes and no.  But, before getting into that in detail, let’s take a moment to examine what is going on behind the curtain.