Historical change alters how production elements combine, not the elements themselves

Evidence

Likewise, Balibar defines the concept of mode of production as, itself, the result of a variant combination of elements (object of labor, means of labor, labor-power). What changes, in each epoch, are not the elements, which are invariant (in the definitional sense), but the way they are combined: their articulation. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 618

Categorization

• QUESTION: If the elements are truly invariant across epochs, what explains the appearance of genuinely new elements (e.g., information as means of labor in the digital age)? Worth chasing Balibar’s own answer.
• XREF: Relevant to debates on whether ‘capitalism’ names new elements or new combinations — echoes in economic thought about epochal change.