Sharing Economy

C1 – Advanced

Sharing economy is basically an economic system in which assets and services are shared between private individuals either for free or for a fee. It has become a global economic phenomenon because of the expansion of platforms to other countries, and because the idea of sharing has caught on around the world. We are familiar with Uber, Airbnb or even other ways of sharing all sorts of things. The sharing economy has shown explosive growth, which, in turn, has led to regulatory and political battles as more and more people want to connect with one another.

Watch the video about sharing economy and what’s next for it.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think of sharing economy?
2. What does “hockey stick growth” mean?
3. How do you feel about sharing? What do you regularly share with other people?
4. What benefits do the sharing economy hold for communities/society?
5. How is this market regulated for security?
6. In normal business transactions, the government also extracts value by way of taxes, but with the sharing economy often the same taxes don’t apply; what do you think about this?