A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

Post by jasode » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 10:19 PM UTC

wrkng wrote: post #47

jasode wrote: post #12

This essay has some interesting analysis contrasting the differences between the model of licensing/guild vs crowdsourced reviews. However, analyzing that aspect misses the point. The heated issues around Uber is economics and how the pieces of the pie are cut up. Explaining how new technologies allow a different trust model to emerge is irrelevant to the French taxi driver throwing bricks at Uber cars or DiBlasio's…

(author of the post here) There are issues on a number of levels. One is "public safety" which is essentially the licensing issue. Another is externalities like traffic, which aren't about licensing for safety but more about regulating for other impacts. Then, there are the economic / labor issues, which deserve their own consideration.

Post by s73v3r » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 10:24 PM UTC

wrkng wrote: post #49

s73v3r wrote: post #30

Can we stop referring to business models which choose to simply skirt or ignore the law as "innovation"? I'm pretty sure the Mafia has been doing that for decades.

(author of the post here) Sure, that's true But what's also true is that we will continue to see things -- things that are perfectly acceptable to society, or at least will come to be that way -- that are out of sync with current laws and regulations. So the question is how do we get there. Clearly every innovation is not positive, but many are, and we want to give ourselves the opportunity to try things and learn fr…

Post by DennisP » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 10:51 PM UTC

apendleton wrote: post #29

pauloday wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he means they're good at regulating problems that affect them directly but they're bad at/don't care about regulating externalities. There are laws in place to protect people who stay in hotels and AirBNB does a good job of emulating those, but there are also laws to prevent hotels from messing up society as a whole (e.g. zoning laws) that AirBNB doesn't emulate well or at all.

Right, the regulations are meant to protect both the parties to the economic activity and people who aren't parties. The Uber equivalent, I guess, would be that their system can eliminate drivers passengers don't like, and passengers drivers don't like, but they have no incentive (except bad PR) to make sure, for example, that drivers not carrying customers are properly insured should they hit pedestrians. The self-r…

Post by DennisP » Thu, Jul 23, 2015, 11:21 PM UTC

ectoplasm wrote: post #56

DennisP wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it mess up society when people rent out rooms in their houses?

It's helpful if there are default rights granted by the state that apply to all landlord-tenant arrangements.

Post by ectoplasm » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 12:09 AM UTC

DennisP wrote: post #57

ectoplasm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's helpful if there are default rights granted by the state that apply to all landlord-tenant arrangements.

Why wouldn't those apply anyway? Anyone can rent out a room, condo, or a house, just by posting a classified ad, and landlord-tenant law applies. Nobody has to share information with the state under normal circumstances, but if there's a dispute, the courts apply the appropriate law. The same sort of framework could apply to Airbnb rentals.