I keep thinking that we might see a second "information age" the day we can reliably find something in the large ammount of data we have been piling up recently (is there such a thing as the "data age"?). Neural networks might be the beginning, but if we stop reinventing wheels, we could become a whole lot more productive.

Are there good documents regarding "capitalism" (I guess; constantly reinventing better wheels) vs other systems (reusing already designed wheels, however square), in domains other than financial: what the tradeofs are, how much worse your existing wheel can be before you start to feel it, potential for innovation, etc. Free software might side with the later, but I'd like an analytical exploration.