The Sharing Economy

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/opinion/the-sharing-economy.html

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To the Editor:

Re “The ‘What Is It?’ Economy” (Op-Ed, Dec. 16): Steven Greenhouse writes about how business people and economists are struggling to find a more accurate word than “sharing,” as in “sharing economy,” to describe a situation in which money is involved.

They don’t have to look any further than the simple prefix “co-,” as in co-worker, or, more essentially, cooperation, to express an economic system in which both are involved.

In France, car owners share extra seats in their cars (les voitures) with others who are headed to a common destination. The riders pay their fair share of gas and tolls. They call it covoiturage.

MARY-LOU WEISMAN

Westport, Conn.