A peer-to-peer (P2P) economy is a decentralized model in which two individuals interact to buy or sell goods and services directly with each other, without a third-party intermediary, or through a commercial company.
Services like Uber or Airbnb are P2P alternatives to cab and delivery services or hotels and hostels. The P2P economy is similar to the economic production of the pre-industrial era where everyone was self-producing, a system that was replaced by more efficient economic systems that offered increased productivity and wealth.
The Internet and the information technology revolution have made the P2P model large and disruptive enough today that regulators and businesses have woken up to it. This is a sign of its immense potential for such innovative business models in the years to come.
