A bold, recent thesis contends that capitalism is defined not by flows of capital but instead by the flow of information, in what the author calls an “information nexus.” Capitalism, he argues, is possible only when there is a sufficient circulation of information between the system’s various stakeholders, along with institutions that abet it, governments that permit it, and practices that encourage it. “The only characteristic that is exclusive to capitalism,” the argument goes, “is the enhanced ability to marshal information.”