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A comment on Uber's billion-dollar losses expose the fragile state of the on-demand economy. Parent comment

Re:Uber's billion-dollar losses expose the fragile state of ... by hx87 on Friday September 16, 2016 @06:08PM (#12517722)
> There's a reason taxi service is expensive.

For less regulated cities, sure. For the more famous ones such as NYC and Boston, it's because there are a fixed number of permanent licenses owned by rent-seekers who lobby the city government to keep it that way.

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Re:Uber's billion-dollar losses expose the fragile state of ... by Terr_ on Friday September 16, 2016 @06:58PM (#12517991)
While there is definitely rent-seeking to combat, it's also true that the restricted-supply exists because we already tried the unregulated version and ran into problems. At one point it was creating painful costs (e.g. congestion) which were externalized onto everybody else.

http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2014...

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Re:Uber's billion-dollar losses expose the fragile state of ... by refurb on Saturday September 17, 2016 @02:09AM (#12519374)
Hmmm... Uber is basically unregulated. Whoever wants to drive for Uber can. Why hasn't the system imploded yet? Why isn't it solid gridlock in NYC due to too many Uber cars?
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Re:Uber's billion-dollar losses expose the fragile state of ... by almostApatriot1 on Friday September 16, 2016 @09:41PM (#12518667)
Taxis are a burden on NYC and should be charged extra to make up for it.
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