"A photo illustration shows the Uber app logo displayed on a mobile telephone, as it is held up for a posed photograph in central London" - that's some caption!
Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
41–50 of 221 posts
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#42"1) Cheating on taxes is quite literally stealing from every other person in the country. That being said I think there is a lot of small scale cheating going, especially for small cash-driven businesses."
I disagree.
One monkey says to a group of other monkeys, "we all need to take one of the 5 bananas we individually have and place it into a central banana disbursement fund".
Then, another monkey from the group refuses to give up one of his bananas. How is this refusal equal to stealing?
The real question is why taxes need to be /forcefully/ collected in the first place.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is a tourist supposed to know this and avoid getting ripped off? My brother lives there and explained to me how they can be identified, I otherwise would not have known.
I don't think that problem is unique to Stockholm, plenty of other cities have that issue. Usually when I go to a new location, doing a Google search or two on these things proves helpful. The number plate stuff is on wikipedia and the VisitStockholm.com website for example: http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/Good-to-know/Getting-around... has all the information on taxi's, how to recognise them, what the regulations a…
The issue is that there is no meter on the "fake" taxis. In other countries, you can easily tell if you're being ripped off based on the meter. If it's off, then you can be 100% certain.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
"So, they want to encourage ride-sharing in the original meaning - carpooling. Not the "taxi company in disguise" meaning. Sounds fair enough to me." I'm not necessarily a fan of Uber, but this is ridiculous. If 'taxis' are legal in Sweden then there's no reason Uber should not be able to operate so long as they are obeying the laws . Ostensibly, this is about a specific issue - distance travelled and the lack of abi…
Nonsense. The Nordic countries are the best to start a/do business in [1][2] [1] http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/ [2] http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings
The Nordic companies are not 'the best' at startups, not remotely close.
They have some nice attributes.
I worked for the EU government studying these issues a decade ago.
One of the primary reasons it's hard for startups over there, is that there are really weak eco-systems - you need 'big pocketed' acquierers (among other things) to sustain the model.
Paradoxically, the (admittedly older) 'anti business' attitude, which again doesn't really exist so much among younger people today - doesn't imply that they are 'bad at business'.
I would actually agree, that 'pound for pound' Swedes are decent at startups, but because of other factors - i.e. market size, eco-systems, language, geography ... it's hard for them to compete with Valley startups.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#45So, they want to encourage ride-sharing in the original meaning - carpooling. Not the "taxi company in disguise" meaning. Sounds fair enough to me. For context, the taxi regulation in Sweden is very light. There is no medallion system limiting the number of cars, and no regulation of prices. You just need an extended driver's license, an approved taxi-meter (same as how grocery stores need their scales to be approved…
> You just need an extended driver's license, an approved taxi-meter (same as how grocery stores need their scales to be approved), and the pricing plan listed clearly in the window.
You're omitting the most important thing here: the actual taxi traffic permit. That's the hard part in this process.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
"So, they want to encourage ride-sharing in the original meaning - carpooling. Not the "taxi company in disguise" meaning. Sounds fair enough to me." I'm not necessarily a fan of Uber, but this is ridiculous. If 'taxis' are legal in Sweden then there's no reason Uber should not be able to operate so long as they are obeying the laws . Ostensibly, this is about a specific issue - distance travelled and the lack of abi…
Do you live here in Scandinavia? Because the comment on entrepreneurship sounds VERY odd for me living here in Stockholm. I've literally never seen an instance of that, quite the opposite. Being a business person is just an occupation as any other, what Swedes are quite against is for you to make 100x to 1000x what your workers earn just by being the owner or CEO of the company. This sense of equality is well ingrain…
I work in a start-up hub surrounded by about 50 different start-ups, all trying to make it.
Swedes are PLENTY entrepreneurial.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#47"1) Cheating on taxes is quite literally stealing from every other person in the country. That being said I think there is a lot of small scale cheating going, especially for small cash-driven businesses." I disagree. One monkey says to a group of other monkeys, "we all need to take one of the 5 bananas we individually have and place it into a central banana disbursement fund". Then, another monkey from the group ref…
If you look at many factors Sweden is way more livable than the USA. Perhaps that explains why culturally they don't mind paying higher taxes. I've worked in the US and Canada. I pay more taxes in Canada but the social services and health care are much better here and I can go to great public facilities like gyms and pools that I had to pay for privately in NY
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#48"1) Cheating on taxes is quite literally stealing from every other person in the country. That being said I think there is a lot of small scale cheating going, especially for small cash-driven businesses." I disagree. One monkey says to a group of other monkeys, "we all need to take one of the 5 bananas we individually have and place it into a central banana disbursement fund". Then, another monkey from the group ref…
When the banana production facility is predicated on the collective effort and value that all of the monkeys provide, then refusing to pay taxes is tantamount to sealing from the society. Since the society provides for the common good, including the production of bananas, it follows that the individuals must honor and provide for that social function--which in the end serves _them_.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#49So I'm guessing that Uber is going to start a Swedish non-profit and pay all profits to their (likely) Irish entity as tech licensing fees and keep moving. Anyone have a reason to think this won't be the outcome if they can't fight this in court?
Uber will not make a profit for decades, break-even is a stretch of credulity.
Unless you think they can somehow turn around $2bn loss on $1.8bn revenue in a very thin margin business.
Re: Sweden proposes ban on ride-sharing services that make profits
#50"1) Cheating on taxes is quite literally stealing from every other person in the country. That being said I think there is a lot of small scale cheating going, especially for small cash-driven businesses." I disagree. One monkey says to a group of other monkeys, "we all need to take one of the 5 bananas we individually have and place it into a central banana disbursement fund". Then, another monkey from the group ref…
One monkey says to a group of other monkeys: "We all need to take one of the 5 bananas we individually have to feed the doctor monkey, the asphalt monkey and the teacher monkey, from whom we receive services."
One monkey from the group, which just came back in his car from the doctor monkey with his daughter that goes to the local monkey school: "I refuse to give up my bananas!".
Remember context. Full context is important.