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Disrupting Uber
41–50 of 230 posts
Re: Disrupting Uber
#42What they're missing is that higher wages depend on some barrier to entry (there are many kinds) that protects the people who have jobs at the expense of anyone who is looking for a job. As someone who works for a company with high hiring standards and correspondingly high pay, I have mixed feelings about this. It seems like there should be some jobs that are easy to get without much training, and taxi driver is a go…
These "barriers to entry" is called "economic rent". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_rent Economic rents are harmful to the economy and keep new labor entrants out as you have pointed out making it harder for young people or others to get a job. A way to complete with Uber and existing taxi services is to provide greener vehicles such as electric or hybrid (the new yellow taxi medallion cabs in NYC are all hyb…
While they're harmful to the economy, the economy really seems to favor them.
Re: Disrupting Uber
#43Does anyone know why I would be downvoted for taking the time to explain what is going on. Does someone have a problem with lowering overly high taxi fares. Uber has been doing that which is a good thing.
Don't take it personal. It might be some uber fans thinking you are attacking uber. There are a lot of religions here on hn. :)
You are a wise being.
Re: Disrupting Uber
#44These "disruptors" need to work on wealth creation and not installing "economic rents." Economic rents, a term in Microeconomics, is trying to achieve profits beyond those in an efficient market (for example, creating artificial scarcity). The appear to be complaining because Uber is lowering the cost of overly expensive taxi fares when they should be working on a system that provides rides for less money while still…
well put, if your axiomatic paradigm is laissez-faire economics, whose credibility is fast being eroded as its negative consequences (exclusive returns to capital only) become all too awfully apparent. Terms meant as derogatory such as "economic rents" basically mean allowing some friction to the free market so that labour may obtain more of the returns, and consequently, workers may find some dignity, income stabili…
It seems to me that economic rents typically end up being friction that allows the owner of capital to capture returns, not something that helps workers get it.
Re: Disrupting Uber
#45What they're missing is that higher wages depend on some barrier to entry (there are many kinds) that protects the people who have jobs at the expense of anyone who is looking for a job. As someone who works for a company with high hiring standards and correspondingly high pay, I have mixed feelings about this. It seems like there should be some jobs that are easy to get without much training, and taxi driver is a go…
I think the most valid complain about Uber as an employer is that it is advertised as well a paying job but that there are hidden costs that most drivers won't consider. It's similar to how programmers often look at consulting rates, but don't factor in non-billable hours.
Does Uber have substantially more hidden costs than, say, a pizza delivery driver.
Re: Disrupting Uber
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's an important point, that these concerns are always about careerists, not the beer money group. But there are two groups here. The beer money group could be significant: retirees, students, people who want extreme flexibility because they have another primary job or responsibility. Half of all drivers is a significant block. On the other hand, careerists legitimately face an impossible situation, since so much of…
> Restrictive policy responses hurt one group of people in an attempt to protect others. That's the definition of Pareto optimality
Ok, pareto optimal describes a state, and I was abusing the term to apply it to a change of states. Definitely could be ambiguous: Are you moving towards pareto optimality, or starting at PO?
When I've heard others commit similar abuses, they use "pareto optimal [change]" or "pareto efficient [change]" as synonyms for "pareto improvement." ie, moving towards pareto optimality. ie, a change that makes someone better and doesn't hurt anyone.
But you're right, "pareto improvement" is really the proper term there.
Re: Disrupting Uber
#47This is standard Uber practice. Use billions in its warchest to incentivize drivers into joining it, and offering huge benefits that gradually become less generous as it comes closer to market saturation.
What's a warchest?
Re: Disrupting Uber
#48It's a bit silly to leave out any mention of self driving cars in an article called "Disrupting Uber". Driving around cars around all day is a silly job, ideally a job that should not exist in 5 years from now. We'd better discuss basic income instead of co-op taxi companies.
Taxi drivers are "silly", but paying for nothing is serious stuff.
Grand.
Re: Disrupting Uber
#49Uber has all the cards here. They came with a system that enables the drivers to use their time more efficiently, which dropped the price for the end user. Also lowered the entry barrier. Almost anyone with a car, smartphone and a driving licence can do it, which is why they afford the high turn over.
Is it worth it trying to compete with them? Definitely .
Will this lead to increased drivers profit ? Not really. Because the value that they provide is massively accesible,and with the advent of autonomous cars, fully replaceable.
Bad times for taxi drivers are coming quickly, and there's not much anyone can do about it...
Re: Disrupting Uber
#50These "disruptors" need to work on wealth creation and not installing "economic rents." Economic rents, a term in Microeconomics, is trying to achieve profits beyond those in an efficient market (for example, creating artificial scarcity). The appear to be complaining because Uber is lowering the cost of overly expensive taxi fares when they should be working on a system that provides rides for less money while still…
> The[y] appear to be complaining because Uber is lowering the cost of overly expensive taxi fares when they should be working on a system that provides rides for less money while still helping drivers get more pay (if that is important to them). This is a magazine for American Leftists, so they're really quite clear what they want: they want valuable services rendered to people with profits shared among the workers,…
"are in effect paying a portion of their profits for the right to take part in an economy."
Not really, they are paying a portion of their profits for access to the connections to drivers that Uber provides. They have every right to participate in the ride-share market outside of uber.