Uber

Could the purchase of a car save a neighborhood? In the past the answer to the previous question would have been quick and dismissive no. But thanks to technological advances, previous economic truths have become a bit more nuanced. With the arrival of “ride sharing” companies like Uber and Lyft, cars don’t necessarily lose value the minute they leave the proverbial lot. Nowadays they’re capital goods that their owners can utilize to transport passengers around in remunerative fashion. 

As the sharing economy develops, the opportunities for cutting out the middle-man seem endless. After Lyft and Uber revolutionized personal transport and Airbnb allowed us to monetize our own properties, Safarisource attempts to do the same thing with safaris.

No one should be shy about the need to love entrepreneurs, startups, big ideas, wanting to make a change, and striking out into the world to fill an identified hole. There's a lot of risk involved in that, and it can still work, but you have to do it right. In other words, you can't found what the New York Times dubbed a "bro co." and expect it to be sustainable.
Enter the infamous Fyre Festival and, now, Uber.

To understand the significance of Kalanick’s departure as Uber's CEO, it’s worth running through both his extraordinary accomplishments, and the charge sheet against him.

Uber's decision to locate its "driverless car experiment" in Pittsburgh is an exponentially greater gift to the city than the simple creation of jobs. We know this because Uber has already opened its checkbook to lure away some of Pittsburgh's greatest technological minds with an eye on erasing the unease that comes with transportation.

The European Court of Justice is doing its best to stop people using or working for services such as Uber or Airbnb. Given that sharing economy platforms offer consumers a better service at cheaper prices, existing market players are seeking to destroy the competition using legal means rather than by offering a better service. 

In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of ridesharing by recognizing and upholding a state law that allows these companies to exist within Georgia. 

Using the same apartheid-era tactics that kept blacks out of the labor markets, London and Delhi taxi driver unions have been lobbying the local authorities to eliminate the competition for them. If they can make it too expensive for Uber to employ drivers, they can reverting back to the monopoly that allowed them to charge exorbitant fare prices.

The assault on Uber ignores a hugely important effect of the company and similar services: they reduce inequality—which politicians and mainstream media argue is the most important issue of our time.

Drone TV, playing Greyball and the advertising pinch + this day in history w/the Vast Wasteland speech and our song of the day by Charly Bliss on your Morning Monarchy for May 9, 2017.