Private property has become so prevalent in the world that we rarely think about the commons. Most people consider the subway as a public good, it is part of “public transport” after all. But they are unlikely to recognize the space on the subway as a common, the way a community would previously have thought about a shared pasture. The COVID19 crisis is a stark reminder that commons are all around us: A single infected subway rider not wearing a mask could infect dozens of people. How is that...

One of my favorite questions to ask business students is why companies require external financial capital (equity or debt). Answers tend to turn quickly towards some need to invest, e.g. in developing software or building a plant. But that doesn’t fully answer the question. Why? Because what if the investment in development can be paid for by customers ahead of time? Well in that case there is no need for external investment. This is of course something we now see in the real world via Kickst...