[P2P-F] p2p economy (fork of Ordoliberalism)

FC Fisher fcfisher at fcfisher.com
Wed Dec 7 23:04:29 CET 2011


Michel, regarding your comment "my own take is that a peer to peer economy
reverses the equilibrium between competition and cooperation."

I am not convinced that the ows method of provisioning is sustainable or
extensible, but I want to address the idea of competition.

I do not think competition is the problem.  I think competition along a
single dimension (money) is.  Goods and services should be able to compete
along all dimensions of quality, put price must be removed from the
equation to make this meaningful competition.

I think the equilibrium we should seek is between centralization and
decentralization.  A centralized economy, such as one that operates on a
centrally controlled currency, has a bias toward centralizing, or the
accumulation of wealth.  A decentralized, or p2p economy would have a bias
toward distribution of value (wealth).

I would define a p2p economy as the exchange of goods or services for goods
or services or the verifiable promise of goods or services at subjective
rates agreeable to all parties independent of a centralized currency or
centralized authority.

Technical feasibility discussions aside, an exchange supporting a p2p
economy would need to facilitate a multi-way exchange of subjective value
without conversion to a central currency or any requirement of a central
authority or central exchange.  This multi-way exchange barter system would
more closely resemble pre-currency economies, but could use technology to
be even more efficient and reliable than centralized currency exchanges
(e.g. retail stores, banks, and stock markets).

So in terms of competition in this p2p economy, every producer competes on
all the dimensions that potential consumers value, and does not compete on
cost.   I think this is a potentially very sustainable and extensible model.

Coexisting centralized and distributed economies have a lot of very
interesting possibilities.
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