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The zero marginal cost society: the Internet of things, the collaborative commons, and the eclipse of capitalism
Short Title: The zero marginal cost society
Format: Book
Publication Date: Nov 30, 2013
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Place of Publication: New York
Sources ID: 47741
Collection: Altruism
Visibility: Public (group default)
Abstract: (Show)
In The Zero Marginal Cost Society, New York Times bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin describes how the emerging Internet of Things is speeding us to an era of nearly free goods and services, precipitating the meteoric rise of a global Collaborative Commons and the eclipse of capitalism.Rifkin uncovers a paradox at the heart of capitalism that has propelled it to greatness but is now taking it to its death—the inherent entrepreneurial dynamism of competitive markets that drives productivity up and marginal costs down, enabling businesses to reduce the price of their goods and services in order to win over consumers and market share. (Marginal cost is the cost of producing additional units of a good or service, if fixed costs are not counted.) While economists have always welcomed a reduction in marginal cost, they never anticipated the possibility of a technological revolution that might bring marginal costs to near zero, making goods and services priceless, nearly free, and abundant, and no longer subject to market forces.