One of the reasons for the global economic crisis, experts say, is the completion of the expansion of sales markets - there is no place on the planet where international corporations would not reach with the offer of their goods and services. But the crisis cannot go on forever, and in order to get out of it, the entire economic structure will have to be changed.
The world as we know it has existed for only two decades. Until recently, Russia, Eastern Europe, China and other socialist republics were isolated from world trade, existing in a planned economy, which, due to its limitations, could not meet the growing needs of citizens. After the Iron Curtain collapsed, a colossal untapped market with more than a billion consumers opened up for capitalism, which immediately gave a strong impetus to the economies of Western countries.
In the wake of the euphoria caused by the beginning of total globalization, the idea of the “end of history” arose, which was put forward in 1989 by the American philosopher Francis Fukuyama. He believed that the ideological struggle was over, that liberal democracy, free enterprise and the capitalist system had won. On the basis of his idea, a belief was formed in the inevitability of a worldwide "distribution of labor": they say, the main production will be transferred to less developed countries, and more developed ones will be engaged in the management and distribution of income through high consumption. And so it did until the surplus value accumulated in China propelled that country, still using managerial authoritarianism and a planned economy, into a world leader. The global crisis that began in 2009 exposed the growing weakness of Western countries,abandoned their own production. Fukuyama, by the way, also revised his views and today claims that his idea of the “end of history” was not a statement of the end of the process, but only the way to which humanity should strive. Be that as it may, the world is now unfolding economic processes that no one could have foreseen.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
When Francis Fukuyama put forward the idea of "the end of history", he could not imagine how significant the development of information technologies, personal computers and networks would have on the social structure. The first "bell" was the emergence of online stores, which allow the consumer to purchase any product produced anywhere. Thanks to this, corporations that invest huge resources in promoting their products and services suddenly find themselves on an almost equal footing with small companies that are just entering the market.
Of course, the influence of advertising that promotes brand awareness has not been canceled, but the consumer is also becoming more discerning, increasingly trusting word of mouth, which has received a new birth in social networks. The smartest of corporations began to invest in promoting their brands through social networks, but in any case, the market will no longer be limited to two or three proposals, the choice is growing, and in some areas (for example, in the field of culture and software) commercial products account for compete with freeware or shareware.
At the moment, corporations, by and large, completely control only three areas of activity: construction, transport and energy. Can small companies replace them here? It turns out they can. The flagship is the famous Ilon Max, who, although he periodically resorts to state aid, but with his projects demonstrates how modern technologies can be used to create an alternative to the largest corporations, from home energy to space flights. First of all, Musk managed to reduce the required personnel by an order of magnitude through design automation and pilot production, leaving only the "best of the best." Placing orders and hiring contractors who are no longer bound by national borders allowed him to significantly reduce the cost of products. And yet - Musk gives his investors and consumers a sense of belonging to the great cause of building a new future.
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FREEDOM OF PROPERTY
Most likely, Elon Musk will not be able to fit into the next economic order. His firms are also slowly turning into a corporation claiming a part of the global market, so sooner or later they will die out like dinosaurs.
The main challenge for corporations in the near future will be the emerging Sharing Economy, based on shared participation in the services sector. Let's say you have a car and free time that you are going to spend on a part-time job as a taxi driver. In order to provide you with a clientele, there already exists, for example, the Uber system, which is being used by more and more drivers and passengers. But let's say you have a car, but there is no free time, and it is idle in the garage. Is it possible to make it profitable even in this case? This is exactly the opportunity provided by the sharing economy: the owner of a thing at any convenient time through the network can put it up for temporary use, and the choice of the client remains with him, and insurance, a lease agreement,the transfer of the deposit and fees is provided by the corresponding software. Of course, first of all, the sharing economy penetrates into the field of personal transport (from bicycles to private planes) and housing (from renting out individual rooms to entire skyscrapers), but in the future it can affect any objects and areas of activity.
The features of the sharing economy contribute to the formation of the so-called “Collaborative Consumption”, which in the simplest case implies the temporary lease of something by a private person from a private person, but can take a variety of forms. For example, racks with "public" bicycles have appeared in cities, which can be rented for any time, and then returned back to the rack - the rental payment is again carried out through the network in automatic mode. Shared consumption is not limited to services according to the familiar landlord-tenant scheme - there can be an auction, an exchange, and a gift.
FREEDOM OF LIFESTYLE
Futurologists believe that the sharing economy will flourish in housing condominiums, because they were originally built on the principle of joint ownership and management of a house or a complex of buildings. Ideally, the condominium co-owners know each other, so they easily agree on the exchange of personal property, joint purchases in the interests of the community and works for its benefit. But theoretically, nothing prevents these principles from being extended to economic relations within developed countries.
Indeed, the new generation, which is entering an independent life, is much less tied to personal property than their ancestors, who lived under classical capitalism, where the presence of scarce things determined the position in the hierarchy. It turns out that borrowing for temporary use is more convenient and profitable than buying, storing, carrying with you. In a sharing economy, the mobility of each member of society, his personal freedom increases immeasurably, and he gets the opportunity to look for a place to maximize his potential.
However, this form of social relations also has one significant drawback - the rejection of privacy. In order not to experience problems in joint consumption, you need to have an impeccable biography - any stupid trick, a hooligan act, violation of written and unwritten rules can permanently ruin your reputation and complicate the rent. Alas, progress will never abolish the old, like the world, truth: great freedom also implies great responsibility.
Anton Pervushin