Clearly, platforms are the new giants of the
economy. Global, efficient, scaleable, asset light, flexible, and with great
power and a strong tendency towards monopoly.
We're just starting to understand the
game.
NeverMind the Sharing Economy: Here’s Platform Capitalism, by Sebastian Olma, is a
good explanation why the sharing economy is a mis-leading term for something
completely different.
Despite the slightly shrill tone, the article has some
important insights. Here are a few quotes:
“These
are digital platforms that roughly do two things: either making the old
practice of re- and multi-using durable goods more efficient or expanding
market exchange into economically uncharted territory of society”.
“While marketplaces connect supply and demand
between customers and companies, digital platforms connect customers to whatever.
The platform is a generic ‘ecosystem’ able to link potential customers to
anything and anyone, from private individuals to multinational corporations.
Everyone can become a supplier for all sorts of products and services at the
click of a button”.
“It seems fairly obvious that the entire purpose
of the platform business model is to reach a monopoly position, as this enables
the respective platform to set and control the (considerably lower) standards
upon which someone (preferably anyone) could become a supplier in the
respective market. Instead of cutting out the middleman, digital platforms have
the inherent tendency to become veritable Über-middlemen, i.e., monopolies with
an unprecedented control over the markets they themselves create”.
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