Ethically Appropriate Business Models

I think the exploration of transitional stages is very important. Sure, pointing to 50 years out is a useful exercise for framing the journey. But, people need immediate, real actionable ideas that are viable, at least to some extent, within existing paradigms. We are creatures of habit and inertia. We are not yet in an economy where sharing enables a large portion of the productive population to make a living--I don't know whether you claim this--and so thinking about steps towards our goal is useful. I grew up partially in the Soviet Union. That socialist experiment was stuck in a transition stage for 70 years.

This pop-Rawlsian stuff isn't really necessary, is it? Why do we have to find some normative justification for a descriptive theory strongly confirmed by empirical evidence? That P=MC in free competitive market at equilibrium doesn't require moral justification any more than the Pythagorean Theorem does. It's a category error at the outset, isn't it?

Yes, the digital economy is a fact, as are sharing and MC=0. However, I think, it is more powerful to challenge the misuse of monopoly power on its own terms. When merely providing powerful actors a descriptive view of the world, they will attempt to change it or control it. Business men create barriers to generate excess return that flows to shareholders--this is the creed taught in this university, and every business school out there. I agree with you that this may not be a result we want in relation to cultural goods. Then why not ground the desired end-result in a driving principle. I recognize my indoctrination and to get to an alternate position need an approach that makes sense bottoms-up. Not merely as a conclusion.