sharing economy

is grounded in the realization that there are a lot of slack resources in the economy sitting idle which, if connected reduces waste and ends up with a more efficient system.

James Surowecki framed the opportunity for crowd-based capitalism nicely in his 2013 New Yorker article 'Uber Alles.' After noting that Uber raised a quarter-billion dollars in venture capital (an amount which had seemed so high at the time), he concluded: The flood of new money into all these new businesses feels like a minibubble in the making. But beneath all the hype is a sensible idea: there are a lot of slack resources in the economy. Assets sit idle the average car is driven just an hour a day and workers have time and skills that go unused. If you can connect the people who have the assets to people who are willing to pay to rent them, you reduce waste and end up with a more efficient system.

James SuroweckiThinkers

James Surowecki