Worth a shot, I'd say. However, beware: collective bargaining for workers turned into union corruption. Collective bargaining for consumers may well turn into... retailing.

Now if we automate it enough, perhaps we can avoid that fate. It would be like a commodity exchange, with automated discount brokers. But then would come the derivatives: futures, short sellers, Enron-ic mis-manipulation.

Then some homocidal maniac who lost a fortune day-trading toaster oven futures will blow his top, and try to kill all the techies at the server farm. After all, it's always somebody else's fault.

Somehow I always manage to see a possible downside to everything.