Uma outra economia

"in the United States and across Europe, vertically integrated value chains controlled by large companies are already being challenged by new consumer-orchestrated value ecosystems, which allow consumers to design, build, market, distribute, and trade goods and services among themselves, eliminating the need for intermediaries. This bottom-up approach to value creation is enabled by the horizontal (or peer-to-peer) networks and do-it-yourself (DIY) platforms that form the foundation of the “frugal” economy.
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As it stands, nearly 50% of Europeans believe that, within a decade, cars will be consumed as a “shared” good, instead of privately owned, and 73% predict the rapid growth of car-sharing services.[Moi ici: Qual o impacte na quantidade produzida, no emprego do sector, na inflação, e nas estatísticas económicas?]
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This shift in consumer attitudes extends far beyond transport. [Moi ici: Uma tendência que registamos aqui há vários anos com os marcadores "aluguer" e "partilha"] The peer-to-peer home-sharing service Airbnb now rents more room-nights annually than the entire Hilton hotel chain.
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The global market for shared products and services is expected to grow dramatically, from $15 billion today to $335 billion by 2025, without requiring any major investment. The European Commission predicts that peer-to-peer sharing, now an income booster in a stagnant labor market, will evolve into a disruptive economic force.
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the Internet economy is lowering the costs of research and development, design, and production of new goods and services in many sectors. [Moi ici: Se uns são beneficiados, outros são prejudicados e vão procurar defender o passado] Thanks to low-cost DIY hardware kits like the $25 Arduino or the $35 Raspberry Pi, people are increasingly building their own consumer devices. Moreover, customers can now design and manufacture industrial-caliber products by using shared high-tech workshops – so-called “fab labs” – equipped with CNC routers, laser cutters, and 3D printers.
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Such changes are propelling the so-called “maker movement”: a legion of tinkerers who collectively can create products faster, better, and more cheaply than big companies can.[Moi ici: Não é só uma questão do custo, é também uma questão de paixão] Together, the maker movement and peer-to-peer sharing platforms are empowering once-passive customers to become active “prosumers,” thereby spawning a frugal economy that can create value in a more efficient, costeffective, socially inclusive, and environmentally sustainable way.
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A self-organizing frugal economy could generate billions of dollars in value and create millions of jobs in the medium term. But, of course, there will be losers: the large Western companies whose “more for more” business models, backed by huge R&D budgets and closed organizational structures, are not designed to serve the needs of cost-conscious and eco-aware consumers seeking more – and better – for less."

Trechos retirados de "The rise of the frugal economy"