A Protocol Economy

I remember my father, who had in common with Barry Goldwater a major disinclination to suffer fools gladly and a proclivity to be somewhat direct in his phrasing, saying of the new "service economy" as it was developing, "Hell, we can't all make a living selling each other hamburgers."

We then went from the "service economy" to the "information age" where, apparently, we know everything and are not able to do anything and we are all going to make a living, um, blogging.

Now, according to David Brooks we are in a "protocol economy" where we are selling each other protocols. If anybody can figure out what the hell he is talking about, please drop a note in the comments. I seldom know what he is talking about, and doubt seriously that he does, but even for him this one is obscure.