Woman With a Car vs. Washington D.C.’s Taxi Cartel (Part One of a Four-Part Series on the “Sharing Economy”)

Today, I’m releasing a four-part Reason TV series on the
so-called sharing economy, a phrase that’s commonly used to refer
to a wide range of emerging peer-to-peer businesses, such as online
marketplaces for taxi rides (Lyft, Sidecar, and Uber); sites that let people rent their
cars to strangers (GetAround, RelayRides, FlightCar); sites for hiring extra
help with household chores (TaskRabbit); sites for booking a
meal in the dining room of a chef (MealSharing, EatWith); and of course, Airbnb, the company that’s shaking up
the accomodations industry by allowing travelers book short-term
stays in he homes of locals.

Many of these companies are clashing with local governments
because their services provide new ways of doing business that get
around existing regulations (Uber, Sidecar, Lyft, EatWith), or
they’re directly violating outdated laws (Airbnb, GetAround). The curriculum sharing
website, Teachers Pay
Teachers, which is the subject of one of the videos, provides a
way for educators to reassert their professionalism in an industry
tainted by union work rules, lockstep pay, and high-stakes
testing.

Some use the phrase “sharing economy” more broadly to refer to
nonprofits like food co-ops and urban bikesharing programs. At 4:30
p.m., I’ll have an article up at Reason.com looking at what the
sharing economy movement is all about.

Click above to watch the first video,
which is about how Uber, Sidecar, and Lyft are upending the
traditional taxi business and demonstrating that many of the
regulations that local governments impose on the industry serve
just one purpose: protecting the existing players from competition.
Click below for full text and links.

View this article.