We all share, but today, millions get paid for it. Is this new trend just a fad or is it radical rethink for how we work?

When we catch a ride with an Uber driver or contract with someone on Upwork, we marvel at the convenience. What we often overlook is the amount of trust it takes to ride with a stranger or to work with someone we may never meet. Yet that level of trust is what is driving the sharing economy, a form of commerce that harkens back to the 11th-century Maghribi traders.

In his book, The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-based Capitalism, NYU Stern Professor Arun Sundararajan provides the context and the history for how we got here. He also paints a picture for where we are headed, particularly when it comes to labor and safety policies and regulations. A recognized authority on the sharing economy, he has written for the New York Times, Wired, the Financial Times, and Harvard Business Review.

In this interview, we talk about:

* What makes the sharing economy similar to 18th-century commerce
* How we are making the shift away from corporate buying to peer purchasing
* How the sharing economy is blurring the lines between personal and professional
* How the pendulum is swinging back to relationships, connections, and gifts
* How the sharing economy speaks to our yearning for making and connection
* What the 11th-century Maghribi traders can teach us about trust and commerce
* Ways the sharing economy encourages us to do a better job
* Whether the sharing economy can reduce inequality
* How the sharing economy requires different labor regulations and policies
* How the government can partner with platforms to rethink regulations
* How labor regulations were designed for an era of full-time workers
* Why our economy will increasingly rely on stakeholders other than government
* How blockchain tech promises a world where crowd is market maker
* Why trust is embedded in this economic shift
* How new forms of trust will enable new forms of commerce
* What is it about digital cues that help us trust one another?

Episode Links

Arun Sundararajan

@DigitalArun

The Gift by Lewis Hyde

Robert Nesbitt

CM 049: Arun Sundararajan on the Sharing Economy

Curious Minds at Work

CM 049: Arun Sundararajan on the Sharing Economy