Its official: the shared economy is upon us. Companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft have changed the game forever. It was once where we had to call a business to get our goods or services (unless a friend or neighbor could do the same thing); now, there’s an app for that.

Shared economy focuses its idea around collaborative consumption wherefore people can fully utilize a highly priced product like say, a house or car (investopedia.com). What incentivizes people is that it turns your house or car from a source of debt to a source of income. It’s easier now than ever to become a taxi driver in your spare time with Uber, and rent out your property when you’re away with Airbnb. Also, it’s cheaper for consumers than conventional services and goods because it creates a more competitive market. This is its value proposition: break traditional monopolies and create more value out of products.

Positive externalities also come out of this. Juliet Schor points out that ‘secondary markets reduce demand for new goods, so footprints go down’ or at least they should (greattransition.org). (Go to the article, it’s very illuminating). What she is quick to point out is that not a lot of studies have been done about that. This is probably because things like Uber are so new and are finally big enough to make a noticeable difference.

So why oppose it? The company relies on people to do their key activities for them. Businesses like Uber and Airbnb put their ‘employees’ in bad positions ‘who may not even realize what kinds of liabilities they’re taking on’ (washingtonpost.com). They are the key partners, revenue streams, and provide the resources. People buy the cars, the houses, the goods that sharing economy businesses offers. If one of the people gets in a crash, or their house gets totaled, for the most part they have to deal with it themselves; Uber and Airbnb does not provide insurance or workers comp. They also exploit loopholes in the laws (Uber and Lyft aren’t a taxi service technically) so that they can provide services for cheaper (a bit unfair). 

The shared economy fills an unrealized demand in the economy. It is possibly helping the environment and improves the flow of liquid cash to many more pockets. On the dark-side, if something goes wrong, only the consumers and contractors get hurt and the corporations get away, earning more profit by doing nothing. Perhaps the shared economy isn’t so different after all, and that is what makes me scared. 

I want to hear your thoughts on this. It’s a free pass to comment, use, or quote me in your blogs. I invite you to take it.

 

 

Word Count: 449

 

Works Cited

“Debating the Sharing Economy,”Great Transition Initiative (October 2014),http://www.greattransition.org/publication/debating-the-sharing-economy.)

 

Radcliffe, Brent. “Sharing Economy.” Investopedia. N.p., 11 July 2014.

Web. 15 Oct. 2016. <http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sharing-economy.asp>.

 

Rampell, Catherine. “The Dark Side of ‘sharing Economy’ Jobs.”

            Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Oct.

2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/catherine-rampell

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