Re:Is the Sharing Economy Due for Extinction?
by dropit_sphere on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @01:49PM
(#9963282)
> At least a few of the companies will die if that happens.
I wish people would realize this is a morally neutral outcome. Like, oh no, another company down the drain. It's not like they're a limited resource. We should be willing to sacrifice a thousand companies if they can't succeed on the profit metric under the rules we've set.
"Sharing economy" type companies are a good idea. They'll succeed, or better ones will. They don't need coddling.
Re:Is the Sharing Economy Due for Extinction?
by evanpw on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @02:04PM
(#9963377)
If a company and its potential customers are prevented from making a mutually beneficial exchange because of some rule, that's a cost. You can argue that the cost is outweighed by the benefits of the rule, but you can't just claim that the cost doesn't exist.
Re:Is the Sharing Economy Due for Extinction?
by toomuchtodo on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @03:21PM
(#9963882)
Yes, labor regulations are a cost. Yes, that's because we're civilized people.
If you want a libertarian paradise where government doesn't interfere, move to Somalia.
I guess one other way these things are exclusive is that they drive up costs for sharing economy companies. Some of these companies are pricing so low that they are barely making a profit as it is. If their costs are even higher, they will have to drive up prices, and at least part of their appeal immediately vanishes. At least a few of the companies will die if that happens.