Here is a quote from an internet book review  of Grusky's book.

"Grusky's "Silicon Sunset" also has a throwaway line that underlines the
book's dependence on contemporary Web realities. In this case, the reference
occurs when the novel's evil dictator, Knotty Burgstaller, reads a book
called "Microeconomics" by Hal Varian.  _Varian_  is a big name in current
Internet economic theory -- he's one of the main proponents of the belief
that Internet services, bandwidth access and connectivity should be priced
according to demand, rather than at flat rates. Without such demand pricing
-- which would entail paying higher prices if you wanted your e-mail
delivered now rather than next Tuesday, or if you wanted to video-conference
in real time rather than simply post on a bulletin board -- the Internet will
eventually collapse under its own weight, he argues.

Why are we hearing about Varian in a novel set in the year 2077? Because the
central idea underlying "Silicon Sunset" is that all of humanity has been
linked into a "fully efficient" economy by virtue of integration into an
all-encompassing Net via cell-sized meters embedded in every human brain.

Now that all humanity is fully integrated into the Net, a perfectly
efficient free market economy reigns. Both buyers and sellers are fully
cognizant of the price each side is willing to pay or sell for -- there's no
waste, no fraud, no gross exploitation. Oh, and there's also no freedom to
speak of, really, or innovation, or sex. But whoever said full efficiency was
supposed to be fun? "

  (Instructors Note: The last sentence of this  review doesn't make any sense.
It is just the kind of mindless trailer that journalists all too often use to close their
articles.  If you ask me: "If it ain't fun, it probably ain't efficient.")