The Crisis of Peer Production
Peer Production requires the barriers to entry be eliminated (or reduced to true Costs), but under those conditions, Profit approaches zero. Production cannot be fully Peer when the Investors require Profit as Return. But Peer Production could be partly for Profit and partly for Product... If at least some non-zero % of the Profits are treated as Payer Investment, the Users will incrementally gain co-ownership in the Sources needed for all the Production they require. What say ye, fellow peers? "" The existence of economic profits depends on the prevalence of barriers to entry: these stop other firms from entering into the industry and sapping away profits "" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_(economics)
On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 10:48 PM, Patrick Anderson <[email protected]>wrote:
Peer Production requires the barriers to entry be eliminated (or reduced to true Costs), but under those conditions, Profit approaches zero.
This seems backwards. If the barrier to entry is near zero (I can use the commons to sell my produce) ,I can still sell my produce at just as much profit as otherwise, perhaps even moreso.
mark Santa Fe, NM
Mark Janssen wrote:
This seems backwards. If the barrier to entry is near zero (I can use the commons to sell my produce) ,I can still sell my produce at just as much profit as otherwise, perhaps even moreso.
Hi Mark, When I say 'Profit', I mean the difference between the Price a consumer pays and the real Costs the owner paid, including any wages. I guess I'm talking about "Economic Profit" "" Economic profit does not occur in perfect competition in long run equilibrium; if it did, there would be an incentive for new firms to enter the industry, aided by a lack of barriers to entry until there was no longer any profit. "" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_(economics) Venture Capitalists will need a new strategy because corporate 'earnings' approach zero as competition between workers is increased. By 'competition' I mean any worker who qualifies to operate the Sources (as determined by that exact group of co-owners) can instantly begin work because every one of us can learn to milk cattle or raise bees or cook meals and then signup to do so if that is a job we want to try for a while.
participants (2)
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Mark Janssen -
Patrick Anderson