The Shareconomy Strikes Back

“Taxi?” the cabbie asked hopefully outside the train station. “No thanks man, I've got a lift” I said as I motioned to a grinning stranger in a red car that just flashed his lights at me. The cabbie muttered something underneath his breath as I walked over to greet my driver.

“Oh you should try the big Irish pub in the town center. They’ll be showing the game for sure. That’s where we’re going to be tonight at any rate. Who are you rooting for anyway?” My hostess said cheerfully. “Oh that’s great. We’ll certainly drop by for a beer during the game. Thanks again for letting us stay with you!” I said.

The free market had struck a blow. A better service at a fraction of the cost. Tailor-made for me, technology had just upgraded the weekend getaway. My benefit, my hosts’ and my drivers’ benefit is clear. They can make some extra cash and I get a better and cheaper service. Who is the loser in this new arrangement? The professional taxi? The hotelier?

Just like the makers of whips and buggies, this human capital must get re-allocated to reflect the change in technology and in our preferences. It would be so wrong to artificially  prevent this, to force us back into our horse-drawn carriages so that nobody has to lose their job. Losing one’s job can be a personal tragedy, but someone getting a job can be a personal success story. Everybody benefits when misallocated capital finds it’s proper place. Cheer at the news that the candle-maker has gone out of business.

There is another loser. One who deserves no sympathy and whose wasteful and harmful efforts need no reallocation. The regulator. The mass rejection of their uncompetitive constrained offerings is a slap in the face and proof that their meddling is not welcome. Why do we need to expensive licensing procedures anyway?

Let’s not claim victory just yet. The regulators are slow to react, but they will fight back. They are praying for some serial killer to misuse the sharing economy so they can shout out “Do you see? You need us to regulate everything for your safety! We need tighter rules, more control!”. More power. I hope that this time the consumer will fight back and maybe freedom will return to yet more segments of the economy and regulators end up where they belong: on display at the museum of bad ideas.

I saw a really weird bike, it had four wheels and two seats.
I don't understand how anyone could get around in that ugly thing.