Ask The Economist: The sharing economy
- 5 years ago
Would you rent a room, or a car, or a lawn mower from a total stranger via the internet? Millions of people are already doing just that, through websites such as Airbnb and RelayRides, which match up the owners of underused assets with people that want to rent them. The owners make money, and the renters save money. It's called collaborative consumption, or the peer economy, or the sharing economy.
Tom Standage is Digital editor at The Economist and editor of our Technology Quarterly supplement. On Tuesday March 12th at 4pm UK / 11am ET, Mr Standage will host a discussion about the sharing economy on Twitter. How far can it go? How should regulators respond? And what has your experience of it been? The discussion will appear in the space below and on Twitter via @econdiscuss. If you have a Twitter account you can leave a question or a comment for Mr Standage via Twitter. Just remember to add the hashtag #askeconomist to make sure your question reaches us.
Tom Standage is Digital editor at The Economist and editor of our Technology Quarterly supplement. On Tuesday March 12th at 4pm UK / 11am ET, Mr Standage will host a discussion about the sharing economy on Twitter. How far can it go? How should regulators respond? And what has your experience of it been? The discussion will appear in the space below and on Twitter via @econdiscuss. If you have a Twitter account you can leave a question or a comment for Mr Standage via Twitter. Just remember to add the hashtag #askeconomist to make sure your question reaches us.