emilie_morcillo
The Sharing Economy Just Got Real | la consomma...
The fact that it defies legal classification is proof that the sharing economy is new and different. In a world where business-as-usual creates extreme inequality and ecological destruction, we desperately need something new and different. But the "sharing economy" we usually hear about in the media is built upon a business-as-usual foundation. If the high-profile companies like Airbnb, Lyft, Über, Sidecar, and TaskRabbit are to fulfill the dream and promise of the sharing economy, they need a new business model. For now, these companies are privately owned, venture-capital funded corporations. That’s a problem for both economic and legal reasons. On one hand, these companies open economic doors. In times of high unemployment, it is comforting to know they are there. I know of people who, right now, simply couldn’t make ends meet without Airbnb or TaskRabbit. But it’s dangerous to take comfort in the simple fact that these companies create new opportunities to make a living. It’s a double-edged sword, because the shareholders of these companies are getting rich because good stable jobs are otherwise scarce in this economy. In that respect, the sharing economy companies could even have a disincentive to create a world where we have zero percent unemployment. Even if society achieves zero percent unemployment, companies like Lyft and Über will remain relevant and important, because ridesharing is a powerful way to reduce carbon emissions, to save money on transportation, and to reduce traffic. But I suspect that Lyft and Über are earning a lot of their money because people currently give rides to strangers with the primary motivation of making ends meet.
The Sharing Economy Just Got Real | la consomma...
The fact that it defies legal classification is proof that the sharing economy is new and different. In a world where business-as-usual creates extreme inequality and ecological destruction, we desperately need something new and different. But the "sharing economy" we usually hear about in the media is built upon a business-as-usual foundation. If the high-profile companies like Airbnb, Lyft, Über, Sidecar, and TaskRabbit are to fulfill the dream and promise of the sharing economy, they need a new business model. For now, these companies are privately owned, venture-capital funded corporations. That’s a problem for both economic and legal reasons. On one hand, these companies open economic doors. In times of high unemployment, it is comforting to know they are there. I know of people who, right now, simply couldn’t make ends meet without Airbnb or TaskRabbit. But it’s dangerous to take comfort in the simple fact that these companies create new opportunities to make a living. It’s a double-edged sword, because the shareholders of these companies are getting rich because good stable jobs are otherwise scarce in this economy. In that respect, the sharing economy companies could even have a disincentive to create a world where we have zero percent unemployment. Even if society achieves zero percent unemployment, companies like Lyft and Über will remain relevant and important, because ridesharing is a powerful way to reduce carbon emissions, to save money on transportation, and to reduce traffic. But I suspect that Lyft and Über are earning a lot of their money because people currently give rides to strangers with the primary motivation of making ends meet.