---
type: claim
domain: grand-strategy
description: "Every disruption is a scarcity shift -- what was scarce becomes abundant and what was abundant becomes scarce, and value migrates accordingly"
confidence: experimental
source: "m3taversal (Architectural Investing manuscript), Christensen (commoditization/de-commoditization, 2003), Thompson (Aggregation Theory)"
created: 2026-04-21
secondary_domains: [internet-finance, entertainment]
related_claims:
  - "competitive-advantage-must-be-actively-deepened-through-isolating-mechanisms-because-advantage-that-is-not-reinforced-erodes"
  - "economic-path-dependence-means-early-technological-choices-compound-irreversibly-through-dominant-designs-and-industrial-structures"
  - "riding-waves-of-change-requires-anticipating-the-attractor-state-and-positioning-before-incumbents-respond-through-their-predictable-inertia"
---

# Value flows to whichever resources are scarce and disruption shifts which resources are scarce making resource scarcity analysis the core strategic framework

The fundamental strategic question is not "what is valuable?" but "what is scarce?" Value is always relative to scarcity. When content was scarce (pre-internet), distribution controlled value. When distribution became abundant (internet), content differentiation controlled value. When quality content becomes abundant (AI generation), curation and trust become scarce. Each transition shifts value from the newly-abundant resource to the newly-scarce one.

Christensen formalized this as the commoditization/de-commoditization cycle: when one layer of the value chain becomes modular and commoditized, the adjacent layer typically becomes the new point of scarcity and integration. When PCs commoditized hardware, value shifted to operating systems (Microsoft). When operating systems commoditized, value shifted to search (Google). When search commoditizes, value shifts to whatever is scarce next.

The framework makes disruption predictable, not in timing but in direction. When you see a technology making something abundant, ask: what does this make scarce? Autonomous vehicles make driving abundant -- what becomes scarce is routing optimization, liability frameworks, and attention (you're no longer driving, so you're available). AI makes cognitive labor abundant -- what becomes scarce is judgment about WHAT to apply cognitive labor to, and trust that the output is reliable.

The strategic error is defending the resource that is becoming abundant rather than positioning on the resource that is becoming scarce. Newspapers defended content (becoming abundant via internet) instead of positioning on local trust (becoming scarce as national media scaled). Record labels defended recordings (becoming abundant via digital distribution) instead of positioning on live experience and artist relationships (becoming scarce as recordings commoditized).

## Evidence
- Christensen conservation of attractive profits (2003) -- when one layer of a value chain commoditizes, adjacencies de-commoditize
- Thompson Aggregation Theory -- internet commoditized distribution; value shifted to demand aggregation (Google, Facebook, Amazon)
- Music industry (2000-2020) -- recording revenue crashed as scarcity shifted from recordings to attention; live revenue tripled as live experience became the scarce complement
- Cloud computing -- commoditized infrastructure; value shifted to data and application intelligence

## Challenges
- Identifying the newly-scarce resource requires forecasting that's inherently uncertain -- the framework tells you value will shift but not exactly where it will settle
- Some resources resist commoditization longer than expected due to regulation, network effects, or switching costs
