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Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

nytimes.com

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Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#221

Post by mrtksn »

jdietrich wrote: post #220
afarrell wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> really hard to do because of catch 22 To expand on what mrtksn means: in the UK, it is difficult to get a bank account without proof of address. It is also difficult to rent a flat without a UK bank account. There are a few ways around this: - Have a friend put you on their water bill and use this as proof of address. I suspect this is illegal. - Join a flatshare without getting on the lease, pay for your portion o…

The bank side of the equation has become a lot easier. New services like Monese and Revolut make it trivial to get a basic bank account without proof of address. You can open an account in minutes and start receiving payments from an employer or send payments to a landlord. https://monese.com/ https://www.revolut.com/ The rental side has become more tricky. The Immigration Act 2015 made it a criminal offence to rent…

Monzo(It was Mondo back then) recently introduced current accounts and I see that Revolut too now offers a real current account. That's great news, but still, you'll have trouble wherever proof of address is needed since these apps don't send paper statements as far as I know.

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#222

Post by ShabbosGoy »

losteric wrote: post #165
ShabbosGoy wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A dead-end job is still a job. Unemployment rates are historically low. In the future, most people will become “gig” workers of some sort due to ubiquitous automation.

The job market is so bad people are willing to scrounge for scrapes - their reserves have been depleted and credit maxed out. Unemployment is low because people can no longer say no. One of many reasons people draw parallels between today and the Gilded Era or Roaring twenties.

Except it’s not at all like the 20s. Human mortality is at record lows, and you won’t die from contracting the flu. Credit is a function of interest rates and has nothing to do with employment. I’m really disappointed that people on HN don’t have an understanding of basic macroeconomics.

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#224

Post by wikibob »

afarrell wrote: post #82
mrtksn wrote: post #42

When I first arrived in London my English was not good enough to speak on the phone, I had no idea what the London job market for developers looked like, I had no idea where should I live and where should I settle. So for the first 3-4 months, I did some wine waiting as a gig(agency work, no fixed place or hours. Like with Uber, you provide your own gear - like uniforms, bottle openers etc.) at the finest, the most i…

> really hard to do because of catch 22 To expand on what mrtksn means: in the UK, it is difficult to get a bank account without proof of address. It is also difficult to rent a flat without a UK bank account. There are a few ways around this: - Have a friend put you on their water bill and use this as proof of address. I suspect this is illegal. - Join a flatshare without getting on the lease, pay for your portion o…

Monzo Bank no longer requires any proof of address. They are doing this specifically to address the issue immigrants have with access to banking [0]. They are a fully licensed and regulated UK bank, and have built their entire infrastructure from the ground up (zero legacy mainframe software) [1]

You can mail your debit card to any address you choose, no verification required.

“When you sign up through the Monzo app, we’ll ask you to take a picture of that ID and a short video of yourself. That’s it! You’ll need a UK address where we can send your debit card, and then you’re good to go.”

[0] https://monzo.com/blog/2018/05/29/getting-bank-account-immig... [1] https://monzo.com/blog/2016/09/19/building-a-modern-bank-bac...

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#225

Post by lkrubner »

hoschicz wrote: post #215
lkrubner wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good comment. It is interesting to consider how much rhetoric there is about robots and AI and Machine Learning and how these technologies can revolutionize work and lead to big productivity gains. And yet, in reality, the economy shows no sign of this. Productivity growth was very strong in the mid-20th century, but since 1973 productivity growth has been stagnant.

Changes in GDP are caused either by debt or by productivity increases. Productivity growth since 1973 has _not_ been stagnant.

Labor productivity since 1973 has been much lower than in the decades before 1973:

https://qz.com/633080/the-rise-and-fall-of-american-producti...

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#226

Post by wikibob »

mrtksn wrote: post #221
jdietrich wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bank side of the equation has become a lot easier. New services like Monese and Revolut make it trivial to get a basic bank account without proof of address. You can open an account in minutes and start receiving payments from an employer or send payments to a landlord. https://monese.com/ https://www.revolut.com/ The rental side has become more tricky. The Immigration Act 2015 made it a criminal offence to rent…

Monzo(It was Mondo back then) recently introduced current accounts and I see that Revolut too now offers a real current account. That's great news, but still, you'll have trouble wherever proof of address is needed since these apps don't send paper statements as far as I know.

You can just chat Monzo in the app and ask for a paper statement. They will mail you one with a official looking stamp on it. Worked fine for me when the idiotic government bureaucracy required I produce such an archaic thing.

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#227

Post by mgkimsal »

losteric wrote: post #165
ShabbosGoy wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A dead-end job is still a job. Unemployment rates are historically low. In the future, most people will become “gig” workers of some sort due to ubiquitous automation.

The job market is so bad people are willing to scrounge for scrapes - their reserves have been depleted and credit maxed out. Unemployment is low because people can no longer say no. One of many reasons people draw parallels between today and the Gilded Era or Roaring twenties.

> Unemployment is low because people can no longer say no.

Succinctly put. I'd say this was also a reason why, 9 years ago during the big crash, we saw "productivity" measures go up, and continue to rise even after the 'recovery', even with companies working with fewer people. They managed to get the same results out of fewer people (or... close enough results), and those people really couldn't say 'no' because... they'd rather have some job than none at all (or, again, they needed something vs nothing).

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#228

Post by mrtksn »

wikibob wrote: post #226
mrtksn wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monzo(It was Mondo back then) recently introduced current accounts and I see that Revolut too now offers a real current account. That's great news, but still, you'll have trouble wherever proof of address is needed since these apps don't send paper statements as far as I know.

You can just chat Monzo in the app and ask for a paper statement. They will mail you one with a official looking stamp on it. Worked fine for me when the idiotic government bureaucracy required I produce such an archaic thing.

Good to hear that the situation is improving drastically! Just a year ago Monzo didn't even offer a current account.

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#229

Post by dannypgh »

adventured wrote: post #204
dannypgh wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> or to allow living without work. I join in the argument that labor is coerced into participating in the free market in the US. The agent/subject that you're missing is the government and their enforcement of laws pertaining to property. I would argue that labor is only as free as the social net for unemployed is strong. The coercion comes from the fact that your landlord can have the sheriff evict you (or your bank…

> I would argue that labor is only as free as the social net for unemployed is strong. You're arguing that labor is only free so long as it can hold a gun to someone else's head (the evil 10%) and force them to support said labor via welfare by taking the fruits of the labor that the 10% produce. As though one has an inherent right to someone else's very life and property (if you did, you wouldn't need a gun to steal…

I am not arguing that Communism is free of coersion.

I don't think free markets exist, I believe they are an idealized model. I think this is especially true for the labor market.

Likewise, I don't believe there are coersion-free societies. But that does not mean I'm willing to overlook some baseline level of coersion as not being coersion at all. Governments (regardless of economic policy) tend to assert a monopoly on the use of violence in an area, and that monopoly on violence means their policies are enforced through coersion.

Re: Maybe the Gig Economy Isn’t Reshaping Work After All

#230

Post by mrtksn »

taigeair wrote: post #188
mrtksn wrote: post #42

When I first arrived in London my English was not good enough to speak on the phone, I had no idea what the London job market for developers looked like, I had no idea where should I live and where should I settle. So for the first 3-4 months, I did some wine waiting as a gig(agency work, no fixed place or hours. Like with Uber, you provide your own gear - like uniforms, bottle openers etc.) at the finest, the most i…

I did that too! Blue Arrow? Interesting to hear your story. I'm having flashbacks.

Thanks :) My agency was a small one, found it through an Aussie girl that I met at the hostel that I stayed.
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