Both commercial and sharing economies are built upon exchange, but it is the type of exchange that differentiates them (Lessig 146). A commercial economy's focus is on the monetary value, while a sharing economy's focus is on the building of connections with people. Lessig says that "gifts in particular, and the sharing economy in general...are the glue of community, essential to certain types of relationships" (143). In a commercial economy, their is no value placed on these relationships and exchanges take place because they have to, people need goods and they use money to get them. According to Lessig, "in a sharing economy, people are in it because they like doing so, or because they like doing such things" (176). "Price is a central term of the ordinary, or normal exchange" in a commercial economy, but in a sharing economy "the single term that isn't appropriate is money" (Lessig 118). To sum it up, "commercial economies build value with money at their core. Sharing economies build value, ignoring money" (177).
The dynamics in these two types of economies are different but I think Lessig makes the the distinction between them to illustrate the importance of both them in our society. One cannot exist without the other, and that's where hybrid economies come in. They both serve different functions and the incorporation of the two will ultimately result in a hybrid economy, according to Lessig.
Yes, but think a bit more about why he might spend so much time talking about the economy in a book dedicated to remix culture and copyright law? What does the economy have to do with it?
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