The so-called “sharing economy” is sometimes also called the “gig economy” — arguably a more accurate term, because “sharing economy” carries overtones of cooperation and mutuality that are (to say the least) grossly misleading. In the case of ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft it’s misleading because it suggests the direct sharing of rides between…

Scrivendo tempo fa su Alternet, Richard Eskow (“Rise of the techno-Libertarians,” 12 aprile 2015) ha fatto un’eccellente critica del modello capitalista dei “tecno-libertari” della Silicon Valley. Gran parte degli argomenti riguarda in qualche modo il modello mirato al profitto dell’industria tecnologica, che tratta i prodotti principalmente come fonte di guadagno (o, meglio, rendita) piuttosto che…

In an article at Alternet a while back Richard Eskow (“Rise of the techno-Libertarians,” April 12, 2015) made some excellent criticisms of the capitalist model of “techno-libertarianism” centered on Silicon Valley. Most of his points relate in some way to the profit-driven business model of the tech industry, which treats products primarily as a source…

With its recent 9-0 vote, Seattle’s City Council decided to extend collective bargaining rights to Uber and Lyft drivers. The App-Based Drivers Association (ABDA) lobbied for the outcome in collaboration with a local Teamsters union. Reactions to the decision have been split along the usual, predictable lines. Lyft claimed in an official statement that the ordinance threatens…

Uma critica comum dos progressistas à chamada “economia compartilhada” — representada por empresas como o Uber, o Lyft e o Airbnb — é que se trata de um setor desregulado. Isso presume, evidentemente, que os sistemas de regulamentação, como os dos táxis, existem para “servir ao bem-estar público” e não simplesmente para garantir o lucro…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “Uber: NOT the Networked Successor Economy You’re Looking For” read by Tony Dreher and edited by Nick Ford. In the early 20th century, technological historian Lewis Mumford coined the term “cultural pseudomorph” to describe the cooptation of new, liberatory technologies — technologies which opened the possibility of fundamentally new…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Chad Nelson‘s “Capitalism Smothers the Sharing Economy” read by Mike Gogulski and edited by Nick Ford. FAR’s efforts, like those being carried out by taxicab oligopolies in Germany, Australia, France, the US and elsewhere, show us how quickly so-called private enterprise jumps on any deviation from the current capitalist structure. That’s…

A common liberal or “progressive” criticism of so-called “sharing economy” entities like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb (usually appearing in venues like Salon or Alternet) is that they’re “unregulated.”   This implicitly assumes, of course, that regulations like the taxi medallion system exist for some idealistic purpose of serving the “public welfare” and not simply guaranteeing…

An article at Medium (Tim O’Reilly, “Networks and the Nature of the Firm — What’s the Future of Work?” August 14) describes Uber and Airbnb as “textbook examples” of “the way that networks trump traditional forms of corporate organization, and how they are changing traditional ways of managing that organization.” Um, no. What Uber and…

Russia may have finally caught up with the rest of the world’s governments in cracking down on ridesharing services like Uber. Russia’s Federation of Car Owners (FAR), like any good oligarchy, has complained to Russian state authorities that “rogue” elements such as Uber, Gett, and Yandex represent a “threat to society.” Exactly what kind of…

Uber: To Socialize or Not to Socialize? I’d describe myself, at best, as an occasional reader of the quarterly leftist publication, Jacobin. I’m by no means a long-time, consistent or even an enthusiastic reader. Sometimes I find things on their site that I think are interesting, such as their recent take on Thomas Paine from…

Cody Wilson, a founder of Defense Distributed, is a name too often connected with the failures of corporate and government bureaucracy. For those not in the know Defense Distributed is a Texas non-profit that defends the so-called constitutional right to bear arms.  But once again this supposed “guarantee” will be abridged by another corporation. This…

About six months ago, when Uber was first becoming a visible national controversy, I wrote a column (“One Cheer for Uber and Lyft” C4SS, May 16, 2014) in which I argued that Uber, despite being a genuine example of neither peer-to-peer (p2p) nor sharing, was a step in the right direction because it offered at…

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and FFF vice president (and C4SS Senior Fellow) Sheldon Richman discuss the hot topics of the day. This week: Uber’s undermining the taxi monopoly.

Cheryl and I had our first Uber experience yesterday and thought I’d report on it. The experience itself was first-rate. Things went just as widely reported — but better. I wanted a ride from my home to the tobacco shop that I frequent, about seven miles away. I launched the app on my phone, which…

Over at Reason, Nick Gillespie defends the Hayekian “spontaneous order” idea from Damon Linker thusly: An obvious example of spontaneous order from the contemporary moment isn’t Iraq or Libya but something like the way Uber operates vis a vis traditional taxi cartels. I happen to be with Gillespie versus Linker, but I think the idea…

In Seattle, St. Louis and elsewhere, “ridesharing” services such as Uber and Lyft are causing a kerfuffle. These services, which allow users to submit orders via a smartphone app that are then filled by individuals driving their own cars, run afoul of long-standing regulations requiring the special licensing of taxis by municipal authorities. These licenses,…

A lot of recent libertarian commentary has treated Uber and Lyft as the greatest thing since Bitcoin and 3D-printed guns. On the other hand, a lot of critics — including not only liberals but anarchists who should know better — have demonized it as a corporate gentrification tool straight out of the fever dreams of…

Da decenni i regolamenti sui taxi sono un esempio da manuale di come le norme governative creino artificialmente barriere, rendite e lavoro salariato. Oltre ad una serie di normative di stampo proibitivo che arrivano a definire anche il colore dei calzini di un tassista, il sistema dei “medaglioni” (come sono chiamate le licenze dei taxi…

Há décadas as regulamentações de táxi têm sido excelentes exemplos de como a proteção do governo cria privilégios, rendimentos artificiais e estimula o trabalho assalariado. Além do grande conjunto de regulamentações que definem até a cor das meias dos motoristas, o sistema de “praças” limita dramaticamente o número de táxis nas grandes cidades, ao mesmo…