Abstract

The information chain theory developed by reformulating Talcott Parsons’ four function paradigm as information chains of varying length, using Gordon Allport and Leo Postman’s findings on rumor for the information chain paradigm, using life expectancy as the dependent variable, and organizing concepts from across the social sciences as different values of six variables. The theory has been tested with data from all countries of the world in 1986 and 2008. The equations obtained have been put into a spreadsheet that allows users to apply the theory to explore various policy options. The theory also led to understanding money as missing an essential element, a unit for price defined by a measuring instrument. Currency exchange rates support using an hour of work defined by the visible hands of the clock as that unit. The concept of ‘hour money’ has been tested with a board game and computer simulation.