We have stuff EVERYWHERE... garage, attics, basements -- boxes and stuff.
It was not always like this. People had only a few things, and shared by allowing reciprocal borrowing. Often there was some communal arrangement for bigger things, as with the neighborhood bread ovens of medieval Europe.
Today, though, separate private ownership is the norm. To understand why, one has to understand transaction costs. Of course, I would say that, since I think the answer to almost every question in economics is “transaction costs.” But in this case, it’s actually true.
transaction costs slashed are amazing.
"If Coase were alive today, he might ask a different question: If renting is cheaper and more efficient for most durables, why do we own almost everything?"
TX costs... it's messy to get ahold of things when you need them!
ownership internalizes the costs of using rental markets or sharing arrangements. The transaction cost of renting a ladder, a car, a spare room, or kitchen appliance wildly exceeded the value to the potential user, or the revenue an owner could hope to earn.
...so economically speaking, it's cheaper to own a gadget or a car so that it's always available in the garage, then to figure out where to acquire it/rent it when needed.
"Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, and thousands of other platforms sell connections."
my knee-jerk reaction is the same as much Bitcoiners' when it comes to housing — that's a shitcoin, don't own it. The more things you can rent at convenience and with control, the less capital is needed to be tied up in that "venture" and the more hard assets you can hold. (plus, added benefit: you end up with fewer things in storage... fewer things that tie you down: the things you own end up owning you)
Basically, you will own no (tangible, depreciating) assets and you will be happy.
"Ownership was a workaround for high transaction costs. We purchased goods we barely used because we wanted reliable access to them without depending on others."
I like WeWork, too, happily paying up for a nice one-day-in-the-office day whenever I'm passing through a town with glamorous WeWork offices.
We “store to renew” future access: we want the option to use the thing immediately when we need it. But for most of our lives, we are simply paying a two-part tax — the opportunity cost of capital tied up in stuff, and the costs of storage — for the privilege of being able to get these two holes in this wall, right now, or for two extra chairs used only when company visits.
A FINAL, interesting Bitcoin-esque observation:
Fifty years from now, observers will look back on our era with incredulity. Why did people buy all their own tools? Why did cities devote up to 30 percent of their usable road area to storing empty cars? (In Manhattan, it’s more than 40 percent!) Why did we allow trillions of dollars of capital to sit idle for 95+ percent of its lifespan? Platforms are revealing that much of what we think of as “ownership” is really just expensive access insurance. Once platforms reliably provide that insurance, the original rationale for owning evaporates.