The Zero Marginal Cost Society

The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism

By: Jeremy Rifkin

Narrated by: David Cochran Heath

Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Zero Marginal Cost Society, New York Times bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin argues that the capitalist era is passing—not quickly, but inevitably. The emerging Internet of Things is giving rise to a new economic system that will transform our way of life.

In this provocative new book, Rifkin argues that the coming together of the Communication Internet with the fledgling Energy Internet and Logistics Internet in a seamless twenty-first-century intelligent infrastructure—the Internet of Things—is boosting productivity to the point where the marginal cost of producing many goods and services is nearly zero, making them essentially free. The result is that corporate profits are beginning to dry up, property rights are weakening, and the conventional mind-set of scarcity is slowly giving way to the possibility of abundance. The zero marginal cost phenomenon is spawning a hybrid economy—part capitalist market and part “collaborative commons”—with far-reaching implications for society.

Rifkin describes how hundreds of millions of people are already transferring parts of their economic lives from capitalist markets to what he calls the global Collaborative Commons. “Prosumers” are making and sharing their own information, entertainment, green energy, and 3-D printed products at near zero marginal cost. They are also sharing cars, homes, clothes, and other items via social media sites, redistribution clubs, and cooperatives at low or near zero marginal cost. Students are even enrolling in free MOOCs, massive open online courses that operate at near zero marginal cost. And young social entrepreneurs are establishing ecologically sensitive businesses using crowd funding as well as creating alternative currencies in the new sharing economy. In this new world, social capital is as important as financial capital, access trumps ownership, cooperation supersedes competition, and “exchange value” in the capitalist marketplace is increasingly replaced by “sharable value” on the Collaborative Commons.

Rifkin concludes that while capitalism will be with us for the foreseeable future, albeit in an increasingly diminished role, it will not be the dominant economic paradigm by the second half of the twenty-first century. We are, Rifkin says, entering a world beyond markets, where we are learning how to live together in an increasingly interdependent global Collaborative Commons.

©2014 Jeremy Rifkin (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Great Read

Although really long but still a very insightful and informative read for those interested in how economics, technology & environmental challenges will all converge to shape our future choices

eye opening

you can see this evolution happening. energy is the first shift. transportation , mobility and sharing. the new populism signals a crisis in capitalism

interesting perspective

the material is mind expanding while there is much with which the reader can find fault.

The future!

Very factual indeed. But, when becoming the reality, then it might be too late to tackle the social, environmental and political side effects. Because, all of these changes comes through with a very high speed that almost nobody were prepared for it. It is too fast.

Promising Future Buuuuuuttttt

I'm a fan of Rifkin's work but in listening to this a few years after publication and it already feels dated. It feels like many other books on technology, promising much but not really able to show us the way or accurately foretell how it will play out. For instance, his schtick on the future of education and the promise of MOOCs seems to have fallen flat (or at best serving those with already educational experiences). Heath's narration is solid and easy to pay attention to. He keeps the text interesting with good pacing and tone. AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY.

provocative ideas about the TIR

TIR (third industrial revolution) is how Rifkin refers to the emerging collaborative economy. In this economy, thanks to 3D printing, solar and wind power, and the internet , he anticipates and unbundling of capitalist structures towards more collaborative regimes .

Meh

I thought Jeremy Rifkin has some really great points, but then deviates and stretches in a few areas well past what seems intuitively reasonable. The narrating was a bit tough to listen to as it sounded like a pedantic professor whose class I'd probably want to opt out of (or only show up for the exams).

Some really interesting and provocative thoughts, but 14 hours was far too long. If there were a 3 hour cliff-notes version, I'd recommend that instead.

Must read for everyone.

If you're slaving away hoping to be promoted in future you might want to consider it your job, company or even economy will still be here in 20 years time.

reasonable survey of an important trend

I enjoyed listening to this book. Rifkin lays out a key trend that is evolving. He does however, push this "zero marginal" cost a little too much. By this I mean he infrequently reminds the reader of the high fixed costs required to operate at close to zero marginal cost.

The most important book I've read...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is the most important book I’ve read predicting the future of our economy, new tech and energy businesses, and social enterprises that will drive the 3rd economic revolution. Sure there are holes as some readers mentioned – you can’t cover every eventuality in a single book – but at it’s core this is the future. One reviewer called it sci-fi, but we see it happening everywhere we look and are already participating ourselves in many of these new sharing economy technologies and approaches to recycle, reuse, and share.

In the US our capitalist way of life is very ingrained, but in other parts of the world, the zero marginal cost economy, technologies, and ways of living may very well leapfrog many of the economic standards we take for granted today. I saw this happen with technology leapfrogging in China. I lived there during college when relatively few people were connected even by phones. Because of the timing of new technology and China’s ability and willingness to embrace it, much of the country went straight to wireless and as an added benefit China isn’t crisscrossed by thousands of miles of eyesore above ground phone lines. Countries that need to take advantage of the sharing economy Rifkin describes will very likely do so a lot faster than those of us who cling to our ingrained capitalist methods and they will benefit greatly from doing so. In time, we too will follow.