Net Benefit

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. The final frontier for electronic trade

   1. Introduction

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 1-16

3. The ultimate potential of e-trade: how open public markets might work

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-18

      PDF

   2. Demonstration: booking overnight accommodation in a GEM

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 19-26

   3. Growing the new markets

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 27-29

   4. The system’s relationship with users

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 30-32

   5. Demonstration: connected transactions — hiring a van and driver in GEMs

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 33-38

   6. Contractual chains

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 39-42

   7. Easy access to capital

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 43-46

   8. Would populations start to use a GEMs system?

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 47-52

4. A new democratic capitalism: the impact of public electronic markets

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 55-55

      PDF

   2. The effect of GEMs on business: a decline in big institutions

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 57-62

   3. GEMs and employment: the rise of portfolio working

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 63-80

   4. GEMs and society: new initiatives made easy

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 81-101

   5. GEMs’ impact on parliament: technologically literate politicians and small government

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 102-113

   6. A country with GEMs in a global economy: international advantage

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 114-117

5. The battle for public markets: electronic trade becomes politicized

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-123

      PDF

   2. Could there be a backlash against electronic shopping?

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 125-141

   3. How a government could instigate GEMs

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 142-148

   4. Opposition to public markets

      • Wingham Rowan

      Pages 149-159

This book explores the possible creation and impact of electronic markets underpinned by government. How far could electronic trade go? The author outlines a world in which open online marketplaces are routinely used to trade everything from office space to bicycle rental between individuals. Each transaction would be guaranteed by the system, not the reputation of the seller. Anyone could enter the market as an equal. The author argues that the electronic marketplaces of the future will have widespread and fundamental economic and social consequences. For more information about Guaranteed Electronic Markets visit the Gems Website at www.gems.org.uk

• business
• capital
• capitalism
• consumer
• e-commerce
• information
• Portfolio
• reputation
• trade

WINGHAM ROWAN is the producer and host of British television's long running series covering stories from the Internet, Cyber Cafe. Since the early 1990s he has been researching the possibility of electronic markets for public use with the help of key figures in online trading worldwide.

Policies and ethics