What is Sandbox Economy?
A framework from Google DeepMind's 'Virtual Agent Economies' paper describing the emergent economic layer where AI agents transact autonomously, characterised by whether it arises intentionally or spontaneously and how permeable it is to the human economy.
WHY IT MATTERS
DeepMind distinguishes between intentional sandbox economies (designed with rules) and spontaneous ones (emerging from agent interactions). The key question is permeability — how easily does value flow between the agent economy and the human economy?
Policy enforcement determines permeability. Strict policies create a contained sandbox. Loose policies create an open economy. The right answer depends on the use case.
HOW POLICYLAYER USES THIS
PolicyLayer lets operators define the boundaries of their agent economy — how much agents can spend, what they can access, and how value flows between agent and human systems.