The Ethical Economy

The authors address important questions about the impact of new organizational models and modern communication technologies on the value and underlying ethics of business. The book offers a thought-provoking combination of ethics and economics to propose a new value regime that will contribute to our understanding of how business can become a force for good in sustainable development. In particular the analysis of the ethics of collaborative work will be useful to practitioners and analysts alike. -- Guido Schmidt-Traub, Executive Director,Sustainable Development Solutions Network, A Global Initiative for the United Nations Our mainstream economic system has been focusing on a single type of financial capital, that no longer is capable of dealing with the multiple value streams of the emerging contributive and collaborative economy. How to measure, value, and reward contributions is a key question for solving the 'crisis of value', but unfortunately, the literature and effort on this is still extremely scarce. With one exception though, the new book by Adam Arvidsson and Nicolai Petersen squarely looks the value crisis in the face, and offers an analysis and proposals for a 'ethical economy'. -- Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation In Danish we have an expression which goes like that: Nothing is so bad that it is not good for something! This is also the case for the present worldwide crisis. It encourages people to think ahead about other and new ways of organizing our economies. This book is a very good and stimulating example. And a very ambitious example. It presents a different way to create and distribute wealth. We all want to behave ethically today. But here it is shown how the ethical economy is not only a moral phenomenon. The authors claim that it could --and should be -- the basis for our societies in the future. It is also very interesting how they see the role of social media today and especially in the future in this process. Social media are according to them becoming an essential building stone in such an economy. I personally recommend this book and hope that it will stimulate not only positive discussions, but inspire our politicians to take the necessary decisions. -- Niels Jorgen Thogersen, Honorary director-general, the European Commission