Wisdom of Crowds on the Pitch: 50,000 Fans Acquire English Football Club

Not that I’m a football fan (soccer for those of us in the States), but this post really spoke to me. Not as in the wisdom of crowds approach that the author took, but rather in how these fans were able to collectively raise money and buy (influence) a sports team.

The stock market has worked this way from its inception, yet has only really benefited the wealthy. Us average Joe’s might be able to buy stock, but not enough to make a difference in policies, approaches, or other decisions. What if this approach took off for the acquisition of majority shares of companies. I don’t realistically think that this would work with many companies. The wealth of the world is really in the hands of a few. However, imagine what could be done by just moving one or two big companies.

Mircoloans and micropayments have found a place in the global economic, what about microinvesting? Small investments could add up to lots of power for funds of this sort. Whether driven by profit motives or special interests (Green, perhaps) small investments by large numbers of people could cause significant movement in the corporate world.

I don’t really see this as a viable option yet, but I think that its time will come. With raising standards of living in many countries around the world and with greater Internet connectivity, there will soon be both money and information distribution necessary for a movement like this.

Just an idea I’d like to float. It has little to do with instruction, but does focus on a changing society that will look at everything from investment to education differently.

Dan