Microeconomies

Contemporary consumers no longer trust institutions and want fewer middlemen — in the age of access, there are new expectations and demands. In this environment, emerging microeconomies offer fewer barriers to entry and more acceptance of the new.

Consumption, in its essence, is nothing more than a relationship of exchange. But while this relationship may have started with two producers directly exchanging a sack of corn for a sack of rice, institutions soon began to complexify and mediate these transactions. People no longer had access to the entire production chain, and were forced to rely on the truths proclaimed by banks, the state, and the industry.

A new landscape is forming, however, changing these relationships of exchange. Exponential technological advances, along with the hyperconnectivity of our modern world, have strengthened the idea of a networked society. More people are producing and providing resources. Today, everyone checks everything, looking for exchange and supply opportunities in an increasingly autonomous approach. These connected and engaged consumers are breaking the current logic of the linear production chain.

Companies that refuse to let go of the old paradigm tend to see diminishing returns. In the age of access, there are new expectations and demands. Current consumers no longer trust institutions and want fewer middlemen. In response to this changing environment, new transactions and microeconomies are emerging, offering fewer barriers to entry and greater acceptance of the new.

Reusable Products: The Future of the Economy is in Waste

High levels of extractivism are leading to a future where materials of mineral, vegetable, and animal origin are scarce. But what if we immediately stopped extracting and producing raw materials? How long could we use our waste to produce everything we consume? Learn about the initiatives showing us what the products of the future may look like: designed to take full advantage of their raw material, able to return to the top of the production chain.

Locavorism and the Three Pillars of Sustainable Development

Local consumption is aligned with the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic. Also known as locavorism, this movement aims to shorten distances between producers and consumers, and looks closely at the production chain of consumer goods. This behavior has a positive impact on job creation and poverty reduction, as well as reducing the carbon footprint of communities.

Conscious Entrepreneurship: Impacts of Female Protagonism

Limited by sexism, women face limited chances of growing and reaching leadership positions. They have turned to entrepreneurship as a way of combining purpose and a career. The projects, companies, and startups they have been creating are fueled by a transformative power that boosts both economic growth and social and environmental change.

Eliminating Intermediaries: Blockchain’s Potential to Unlock the Future

We are living in a transition between the end of the current economic model and the awakening of new economies. Access, community, purpose, reputation, transparency, trust: these are the foundations for building a new way of performing financial transactions — whether financial or otherwise — based on exponentially evolving technologies. This is blockchain.

Sustainable Economy And The Resignification Of Success

The current environmental scenario demands a complete change on human’s mentality. That also implies a change on the criteria of what “success” is, specially concerning to people and business. New codes substitute capitalist models, revealing the urgency of sustainable economy.

Sharing Economy And The Expansion Of The Self

Sharing economy blossoms along with the post-modern liquidity. Having access to more things, and them being more disposable, we create an exponentially more fluid identity, more compatible with ourselves. We are not what we have, but what we access.

New Economies And Flow Possibilities

In order to be free from an economy model that destroys nature and makes it impossible to have significant connections, we have to get rid of its premises. Freedom is not about choosing what we consume and produce, but how we do it. Post-internet society have shown us that by interacting in sharing economy we amplify our flow possibilities, not only in information but also in resources.