“Rachel Botsman, the author of a book on the subject, says the consumer peer-to-peer rental market alone is worth $26 billion. Broader definitions of the sharing economy include peer-to-peer lending (though cash is hardly a spare fixed asset) or putting a solar panel on your roof and selling power back to the grid (though that looks a bit like becoming a utility). And it is not just individuals: the web makes it easier for companies to rent out spare offices and idle machines, too. But the core of the sharing economy is people renting things from each other.” – The Economist.
This week’s Economist cover story looks at the expansion of collaborative consumption models around the world, touching on how incumbents are starting to get involved as their industries are being disrupted – from transportation to accommodation to retail – signalling the immense potential of this movement is starting to be recognized.
Read the full article and other related stories at The Economist
Love this concept, and I am a rabid AirBNB user for business travel monthly. What I appreciate the most about this is the fact that we can un-train ourselves to rely not on corporations alone, and instead, rely on eachother as we did in stronger communities and villages in the past. Some folks may not want to deal with their neighbor when then need sugar or to mow their lawn, but I think that social tools like these allow us to build the missing sense of community that is needed and missing in modern society. They make it more human, despite using technology as the mechanism.
Where does the $26billion figure for the peer-to-peer rental market come from?