The decline of ownership

An interesting article on Bloomberg by US economist Tyler Cowen, “Americans own less stuff, and that’s a reason to be nervous”, looks at how technology is changing the way we consume.

Over recent years we have stopped filling our shelves with CDs, preferring instead listen to music through platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, as well as reducing the number of books we buy, as we increasingly turn to e-readers, which allow us to quickly search for a quote or make notes. DVDs and videos are increasingly a thing of the past, as we now watch more and more content via subscription services such as Netflix or HBO. And instead of storing all that stuff we no longer need in the garage or the loft, we simply photograph it and put it on websites in the hope somebody else wants it. In short, different models to think more efficiently, in terms of a less linear, more circular economy, one not based on products as such, and that will likely undergo further radical change.

Throughout my late teens, I was obsessed with getting my driver’s license and buying a car. In contrast, my wife and I had to pretty much insist our daughter pass her test, since when she’s shown no interest in owning a car and instead public transport or the many urban mobility options available in the Spanish capital. The parking space included in the rent on her apartment, is for visitors. Meanwhile, growing numbers of people are choosing to lease or rent cars for a monthly amount that includes insurance, taxes and maintenance. At the same time, many families now take their vacations in other people’s homes, using home exchange platforms.

Traditionally, the more property you owned, or the bigger your home, the higher your status. The rich were judged on their possessions: more horses, more land or more gold. And then there are the superrich, the billionaires ranked in Forbes, with stock market shares that aren’t so much money as a symbol of ownership in companies that generate profits periodically (or not, in the case of some companies).

Technology is taking us toward an increasingly frictionless economy where wealth is no necessarily measured by the ownership of goods, but instead on having access to models that allow us to pay to use them. This decline in the concept of property is spreading to more and more areas, including a few unexpected ones. Why buy an electric scooter just because you can? Why cart 24 kilos of metal and plastic around, worry about charging your batteries and where to park it so it doesn’t get stolen when you can simply find one on an app a few minutes’ walk away at most, ready to go? Property is no longer an advantage, but a ball and chain for those who do not understand the new economic models.

Can we expect everybody to get on the non-ownership program, when models based on the individual ownership of goods have been in force for centuries? Maybe not, but this model, based possible by technology, is a fast-growing trend and one that is laying the foundations for a more efficient economy.

(En espa?ol, aquí)

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