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"Today, Owyang-who is so enthusiastic about the notion that he left Altimeter to found Crowd Companies, which focuses exclusively on the trend-released the first noteworthy research into the state of the collaborative economy. If I hadn't been convinced of the significance of this trend, "Sharing is the New Buying" would have pushed me over the edge. (Late last year, Neville Hobson and I interviewed Jeremiah about his new venture for our podcast. You can hear the interview here.)"

"Taxi unions say government regulation is essential to "safeguard" the public from itself The U.S. isn't exactly a "free market" at times, with outright bribery -- condoned by the U.S. judicial system -- or collusive public-private cartels leading to some products and services being banned from the market.  Just ask Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) whose electric vehicles have been banned from sale in many states.  That debacle arose due to the fact that Tesla has no dealerships and fearful dealership lobbyists banded together to pay off state politicians to ban direct auto sales."

"Machines are about to change what it means to be human. According to social theorist Jeremy Rifkin, they will undermine our sense of private property, take away our jobs and turn us into free agents in a new global "sharing economy". For good measure, they will also destroy capitalism before the middle of the 21st century."