Emerging Transformation of Capitalism!
Full-time employment has come of age — having evolved to today include worker protections, benefits and the works. ‘The other 99 percent’ happily work for a few others and the model earns respect for and from the constituents in the society.
Internet and the age of start-ups seem to be posing a challenger however. The internet brought upon us the first instance of a crowd-based economic model in mid-2000s pioneered perhaps by YouTube and followed quickly by eBay with its peer-to-peer facilitation of exchange of second hand goods.
And now it’s becoming personal!
Today Uber (ride hailing) and Air b-n-b (room sharing) are the poster boys of a glamorous new way of economic modelling popularly called ‘sharing economy’. People don’t shy today on the prospect of the extent of intrusion while willing to ‘share a bedroom’ to make the most of a gig economy.
The sharing economy basically relies on its ability to use resources optimally to give best throughput and is seemingly a more efficient, productive and better system.
Transformation of good old capitalism
Historically, employment as a method has seen unprecedented success as a model to organise labour over the last few hundred years.
Platform based disruptions across industries — enabled through an overall robust digital trust network (example — online profiles of hosts and guests, rating systems, etc.) in the ecosystem — is however becoming the order of the day.
Are we witnessing the transformation of good old capitalism — the defining economic force of the 20th century? Will we see the 21st century lend itself to organising labour in a different fashion ultimately leading to end of full-time employment as a core model as we know it?
Can ‘new economy’ work for everybody? Will it succeed in universally becoming the new normal? Can it be inclusive as it purportedly seems to be and contentiously fights to project?
Schumpeter’s ‘creative destruction’ in disguise?
Economic might has historically beaten military might across wars and across centuries.
Is the gig economy Schumpeter’s ‘creative destruction’ in disguise or is this disruption only going to be replacing a rusty nail with a crooked one!
Is the sharing economy a pre-cursor to the beginning of the end of employment?
Are we fortunate to be living in interesting and exciting times that saw the early days of unravelling of future of work!
Cascading effect
For now, it seems ‘sharing’ could be a force for good but may not necessarily replace good old ‘full-time employment’ as a core model anytime soon.
When and if it does, will this massive change of democratisation of economic opportunity through crowd-based capitalism even lead to evolution of a better political system of governance? What is your view?
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house. Unless otherwise noted, the author is writing in his/her personal capacity. They are not intended and should not be thought to represent official ideas, attitudes, or policies of any agency or institution.
Originally published at http://www.businessworld.in on August 12, 2020.
