Owning databases that we help build: Can it end capitalism as we know it?


 

From interest rates to fashion, pandemics in the past — like the Black Death in the 14th century — have left deep imprints on economic life. This time may be no different. In the aftermath of the coronavirus, governments can reimagine capitalism by giving all of us a stake in the most valuable byproduct of our day-to-day living: data. But make no mistake. It will still be a Faustian bargain.

A global data profit will be a very different GDP from gross domestic product. The case for technology companies to share it with we, the people who supply them the bits and bytes, is compelling. In fact, it could even emerge as a better universal basic income — another revolutionary concept whose time may have come — for the post-Covid world.

A state-provided allowance can improve citizens’ well-being, a widely studied Finnish experiment has shown. Yet only a small group of developed countries would even have a chance of sustaining a meaningful subsidy, provided taxpayers agree. Most developing nations would balk at the expense. Inequality between the global North and South would worsen.

This is where a share of global data profit for the 63 per cent of the world population that’s already online could prove helpful. The FANG quartet — Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. — garners $140 billion in combined operating earnings. China’s BAT trinity of Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. hauls in another $50 billion. Throw in device makers like Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Xiaomi Corp., payment processors like Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and Paypal Holdings Inc., and the available profit pie of our data overlords is at least $350 billion. Their combined revenue is in excess of $1.3 trillion.

Read Complete Article

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Infinix Smart 2 review: 'Value for money' smartphone with tall 18:9 screen

Year in review: From OnePlus to Asus, best midrange flagship phones of 2019

OnePlus 8 review: Meaningful innovations elevate experience, justify price