Abstract

New technologies make winners and losers, especially in the economic sphere. Indeed, the market can by itself provide reactions that help the losers to reverse their condition and get themselves an advantage in a longer time horizon. This essay identifies the losers and the winners of the main waves of technological innovation in the history of capitalism, shows how they have changed and assess the effectiveness of the compensation mechanisms that could help the losers. A central argument is that some recent developments in technology, allowing joint consumption, can more and more lead to markets where "the winner-takes-it all" with unprecedented, and extremely worrying, consequences for the losers.