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How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

priceonomics.com

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Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#41

Post by cbhl »

robotresearcher wrote: post #30
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #23

I think people are missing the point of the article. I summarize that the sharing economy is not a good way to make a living. In search for the lowest price we have people that can't make enough to get an apartment and raise a family. Raising a family has become a luxury for some people. Try to raise 2 kids and you fall into poverty status. The scary part is that it's possible to see a future where a big chunk of the…

> I wish the new tech entrepreneurs would find a better way to fix the low skill problem rather than find a way to reduce services/costs to the bone. Just a few years ago there was a big push in this direction. MOOCs reduced the price of access to college level material close to zero [1]. There is more to it than access, of course. [1] edit: following others, notably MIT, who have been releasing great stuff for free…

It turns out that course material is only one of the things you learn in college. And it's not the one that is necessarily a predictor of being gainfully employed.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#42

Post by g00n »

thomzi12 wrote: post #6

Without earnings per hour metric, it's hard to make much of this post.

Agreed, and if they were lucrative jobs the service managers would gladly announce and broadcast those numbers. But they cover and hide the real numbers because it's not really worth it.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#43

Post by robotresearcher »

wisty wrote: post #40
robotresearcher wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wish the new tech entrepreneurs would find a better way to fix the low skill problem rather than find a way to reduce services/costs to the bone. Just a few years ago there was a big push in this direction. MOOCs reduced the price of access to college level material close to zero [1]. There is more to it than access, of course. [1] edit: following others, notably MIT, who have been releasing great stuff for free…

I believe there were predictions that the gramophone, radio, television, videos, DVDs, and computers (back before the net was a big thing, then several times after it was) would all revolutionize education.

And they all did, a little bit.

Every generation rediscovers distance education, and gets equally excited about it.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#44

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

robotresearcher wrote: post #30
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #23

I think people are missing the point of the article. I summarize that the sharing economy is not a good way to make a living. In search for the lowest price we have people that can't make enough to get an apartment and raise a family. Raising a family has become a luxury for some people. Try to raise 2 kids and you fall into poverty status. The scary part is that it's possible to see a future where a big chunk of the…

> I wish the new tech entrepreneurs would find a better way to fix the low skill problem rather than find a way to reduce services/costs to the bone. Just a few years ago there was a big push in this direction. MOOCs reduced the price of access to college level material close to zero [1]. There is more to it than access, of course. [1] edit: following others, notably MIT, who have been releasing great stuff for free…

Yes, but most people get a degree from an accredited university because they feel eventually it will get them ahead in life. True or not MOOCs don't carry the same prestige. They need to fix that. Also, with no one pushing the student it's easy for them to give up. MOOCs are great to improve your skills and enhance your college transcript but not to get a degree.

But I see your point, they have value. I took a tv based class to get credits for my degree. Now I would do it online. In time, moocs value will improve.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#45

Post by prawn »

robotresearcher wrote: post #30
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #23

I think people are missing the point of the article. I summarize that the sharing economy is not a good way to make a living. In search for the lowest price we have people that can't make enough to get an apartment and raise a family. Raising a family has become a luxury for some people. Try to raise 2 kids and you fall into poverty status. The scary part is that it's possible to see a future where a big chunk of the…

> I wish the new tech entrepreneurs would find a better way to fix the low skill problem rather than find a way to reduce services/costs to the bone. Just a few years ago there was a big push in this direction. MOOCs reduced the price of access to college level material close to zero [1]. There is more to it than access, of course. [1] edit: following others, notably MIT, who have been releasing great stuff for free…

We have better access to information than ever before. Twenty years ago, I quit university/college and taught myself to do what I do now, and the learning materials have only multiplied since then.

I think that big issues that remain are motivation and incentive. You can study for 3-4 years with no guarantee that by the end of it you'll have a job or enjoy it. Or you can teach yourself for six months (or likely more) and have a very slow start as a freelancer, or an up-hill battle pitching your ability to a company looking for a college degree.

I don't love that the gig economy pushes costs and burdens to the employee, but it does provide a quicker opportunity. Someone who's done two weeks of HTML/JS online could well pick up shrapnel work on the side as they learn.

Outside of motivation and incentive, I'd be tackling costs of living so people can get by on 15-25 hours a week of work rather than grind themselves into the dust just to prop up their family.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#46

Post by prawn »

Finnucane wrote: post #9

If you're charging money, that's not really sharing. It's not really surprising that airbnb hosts make more money, since some people are buying houses just to rent out the rooms like a flophouse. Can you do that with Uber (one user manage a fleet of cars? It would seem not worth the effort.)

I think until the driver is removed from that equation, it would be less popular. One person could comfortably manage multiple Airbnbs even if they were doing the cleaning themselves and dropping keys off manually (which they generally aren't).

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#47

Post by vacri »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #23

I think people are missing the point of the article. I summarize that the sharing economy is not a good way to make a living. In search for the lowest price we have people that can't make enough to get an apartment and raise a family. Raising a family has become a luxury for some people. Try to raise 2 kids and you fall into poverty status. The scary part is that it's possible to see a future where a big chunk of the…

> Try to raise 2 kids and you fall into poverty status.

When was this never the case? Kids have always been costly, and families in poverty have always had kids.

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#48

Post by vinaybn »

SirLJ wrote: post #25
jsemrau wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well good and evil is a pretty binary description. You will only have a market if seller (the driver) and buyer (the service operator) are meeting. If the driver do not want to operate under those conditions there is no "invisible hand" forcing them to do so. Of course in lack of alternatives it is a small but easily accessible form of immediate income.

The alternative is to get educated and get thinking about starting a real business instead of this part time addictive pitty of income... it's like saying to the addict it is his fault he is spending all his money on drugs...

Is the addict not even partly at fault for spending all his money on drugs??!

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#49

Post by closeparen »

nickthemagicman wrote: post #38
tommynicholas wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The somewhat optimistic view of these "gigs" is that they have two important qualities: - They can be picked up/put down at any time - They require no specific time commitment and can be managed in parallel with other money making endeavors/jobs Most "jobs" are actually difficult to get (go try to get a job as a waiter - you probably need to know someone), require a very specific time commitment, and if you decide yo…

The problem is less with the qualities of the job and more with the pay of the job. It's poverty wages and exploitative. It's not profiting off these people, it's profiteering off of them.

In what ways do you think they would be better off if these companies were shut down?

Re: How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?

#50

Post by jsemrau »

SirLJ wrote: post #25
jsemrau wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well good and evil is a pretty binary description. You will only have a market if seller (the driver) and buyer (the service operator) are meeting. If the driver do not want to operate under those conditions there is no "invisible hand" forcing them to do so. Of course in lack of alternatives it is a small but easily accessible form of immediate income.

The alternative is to get educated and get thinking about starting a real business instead of this part time addictive pitty of income... it's like saying to the addict it is his fault he is spending all his money on drugs...

Not everyone has the skills, patience, savings to get required education. There is a reason why McJobs exist. This is not an addition but rather the need for immediate cashflow due to economic situations.
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