The Zero Marginal Cost Society

Resumen del libro

The capitalist era is passing. Rising in its wake is a new global collaborative Commons that will fundamentally transform our way of life. Bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin explains that intense competition is forcing the introduction of ever newer technologies, in turn boosting productivity to the point where the marginal cost of producing additional units is nearly zero, making the product essentially free. In turn, profits are drying up, property ownership is becoming meaningless, and an economy based on scarcity is giving way to an economy of abundance.
Rifkin describes how hundreds of millions of people are already transferring parts of their economic lives from capitalist markets to networked Commons. "Prosumers" are producing their own information, entertainment, energy, and 3-D printed products at nearly zero marginal cost, and sharing them via social media sites and other venues. Students are enrolling in massive open online courses (MOOCs) that also operate at near-zero marginal cost. As a result, "exchange value" in the marketplace is increasingly being replaced by "use value" on the collaborative Commons. Identity is less bound to what one owns and more to what one shares. Cooperation replaces self-interest, access trumps ownership, and networking drubs autonomy. We are, Rifkin says, entering a world beyond markets where we are learning how to live together collaboratively and sustainably.

Biografía del autor

Jeremy Rifkin (Denver, EE. UU., 1943) es uno de los divulgadores clave de nuestros tiempos. Es el creador de la teoría de la Tercera Revolución Industrial, basada en las Tecnologías de la Información, y analiza el impacto económico, ambiental, social y cultural de las nuevas tecnologías en la economía mundial.<br> Fundador y presidente de la Fundación para el estudio de Tendencias Económicas, se licenció en Economía en la Wharton School de la Universidad de Pensilvania, donde actualmente es docente, y en Asuntos Internacionales en la Fletchen School of Law and Diplomacy de la Tufts University.<br> Ha ejercido de consejero a varios gobiernos durante sus presidencias de la Unión Europea: Francia, Alemania, Portugal y Eslovenia, entre otros. Asimismo, asesora regularmente al Parlamento Europeo en materias de medio ambiente, tecnología y seguridad energética.<br> Escribe columnas de opinión en los principales periódicos de varios países: Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Die Süddeutsche Zeitung, El Mundo y Clarín, entre otros. <br> Ha participado en multitud de foros y conferencias en más de 200 universidades de 30 países diferentes en los últimos 30 años.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>