Thanks, Jim. Jugaad innovation seems to go hand in hand with Robert Venazo’s “typology of abundant goods”.
An introduction to the economics of abundance (1): the supply side, P2P Foundation, 5th December 2009
To even acknowledge at all the existence of abundance is a huge conceptual leap for many economists, whose fundamental assumptions are based on scarcity. Some economists even say that abun-dant goods cease to be interesting because the problem of scarcity has been solved. But if abundance solves the problem of scarcity, shouldn’t economists devote as much time to the solution as to the problem itself? The answer should be obvious. Indeed, the study of abundance should be a major field of study.
Roberto Verzola offers us a must-read typology of abundant goods:
Cont: blog.p2pfoundation.net
Full article on PP 54-63 of IRIE Vol. 11 (10/2009) i-r-i-e.net
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Furthermore, Frank’s 2007 post on the inexorable trend of declining commodity prices points to the resiliency of human nature to optimize its resources:
Message 24061811
Technology Wants To Be Free, Kevin Kelly - The Technician. November 14, 2007
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The truth is that the concept of the free is easily misunderstood. Thus I applaud Chris’ brilliance in devoting a whole book to unraveling the mess. There’s much to be said about it, and even then we’ll just be at the beginning of understanding what free means. I originally thought I was done with the subject 10 years ago, but the continual questions, as well as the continual evolution of the commons, new social dynamics, new technological disruptions, and further research in the decade since have surfaced some new ideas. In particular I’ve concluded the free is deeply entwined into the very foundation of technology. I was sharing some of those emerging half-baked thoughts with Chris in the lobby of TED. Since that conversation I’ve discovered that the tie between technology and the free goes even further than I thought. My current conclusion can be summarized simply: Technology wants to be free.
Let me state it more precisely: Over time the cost per fixed technological function will decrease. If that function persists long enough its costs begin to approach (but never reach) zero. In the goodness of time any particular technological function will exist as if it were free.
This seems to be true for almost anything we make: basic things like food stuffs and materials (often called commodities), and complicated stuff like appliances, as well as services and intangibles. The costs of all these (per fixed unit) has been dropping over time, particularly since the industrial revolution. According to a 2002 paper published by the International Monetary Fund (“The Long-Run Behavior of Commodity Prices” by Paul Cashin and C. John McDermott, PDF: tinyurl.com ), “there has been a downward trend in real commodity prices of about 1 percent per year over the last 140 years.” For a century and half prices have been headed toward zero.
Continued with graphics at: kk.org |
