> Not saying that Uber or any “gig economy” companies should continue to classify their workers as contractors, but if your business model does not generate a profit despite not providing benefits to your workers, one has to ask how viable that business model is.
Yes exactly.
> I wonder if these long term, risky investment opportunities are a sign that the exponential growth in the economy that we’ve become accustomed to is slowing down and becoming more S shaped.
We do have a demand and growth problem, but let's step back a bit.
- Gig companies growing and paying net sub minimum wage will make growth worse: we live in a consumer economy and less purchasing power for the people will sap the rest of the economy.
- carshare/taxis are inefficient in strictly material terms: cars take up too much space, one driver per person is ridiculous overhead. Bikeshare and buses and trains both immensely improve on both of those. Fundamentally Uber is the low productivity result of our terrible urban planning: a tax we now all pay.
Maybe there is some deep societal reason we cannot prop up aggregate demand, but I don't think so: let the helicopter money begin! But Uber is worse than no stimulus because it low productive and wage deflating. The only good thing is in it's subsidization phase a bunch of Saudi money was dispersed to regular people, but once that ends the legacy is further eroded labor norms.
Yes exactly.
> I wonder if these long term, risky investment opportunities are a sign that the exponential growth in the economy that we’ve become accustomed to is slowing down and becoming more S shaped.
We do have a demand and growth problem, but let's step back a bit.
- Gig companies growing and paying net sub minimum wage will make growth worse: we live in a consumer economy and less purchasing power for the people will sap the rest of the economy.
- carshare/taxis are inefficient in strictly material terms: cars take up too much space, one driver per person is ridiculous overhead. Bikeshare and buses and trains both immensely improve on both of those. Fundamentally Uber is the low productivity result of our terrible urban planning: a tax we now all pay.
Maybe there is some deep societal reason we cannot prop up aggregate demand, but I don't think so: let the helicopter money begin! But Uber is worse than no stimulus because it low productive and wage deflating. The only good thing is in it's subsidization phase a bunch of Saudi money was dispersed to regular people, but once that ends the legacy is further eroded labor norms.