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I was in complete agreement with you until the last sentence. "An Uber we don't like" probably won't happen because if people don't like a service, they won't u

I was in complete agreement with you until the last sentence. "An Uber we don't like" probably won't happen because if people don't like a service, they won't use it. An unpopular business can rarely force itself on customers. And it seems that the same is true of Uber itself. It's possible that the existing laws and regulations aren't necessary. People seem to be able to conduct themselves properly without being licensed and bonded. I consistently hear more good things than bad things about Uber, and all of my personal experiences have been positive. Whatever they're doing, it's working. The same might not be true for an electrician or a massage therapist. As much as I hate to say it (deep breath), the Free Market seems to be sorting this out just fine. I'm not going full libertarian and suggesting we conduct social experiments with the FDA or the fire department. But in some cases, maybe the best way to figure out which regulations are really necessary is to ignore them and see what happens.

hackuser 11y ago
> It's possible that the existing laws and regulations aren't necessary. Who gets to decide that? Should I get to break the law because I have $40 billion and want to? > People seem to be able to conduct themselves properly without being licensed and bonded. Do you have any data?
habosa 11y ago
By an "Uber we don't like" I mean "an uber that comes into your industry" (or an industry of your family members, etc). As far as The Free Market, I agree 100% that Uber provides a good service. However I feel bad for the people who made investments in the taxi industry by following the law and then had those investments completely devalued by a lawbreaker with good PR. A ton of america's certifications are not necessary, I'd bet. But the proper method for removing those certifications is not to just ignore them with a fat stack of money. One day that will go wrong. Tangentally, I think AirBnb will one day get bitten by this. They're gonna have some shady AirBnb burn down without a fire alarm or give a bunch of people an infectious disease and everyone will realize why we have hotel regulation. Again this is another service of which I am a happy customer, but we are playing with fire.

hackuser 11y ago

> It's possible that the existing laws and regulations aren't necessary. Who gets to decide that? Should I get to break the law because I have $40 billion and want to? > People seem to be able to conduct themselves properly without being licensed and bonded. Do you have any data?

habosa 11y ago

By an "Uber we don't like" I mean "an uber that comes into your industry" (or an industry of your family members, etc). As far as The Free Market, I agree 100% that Uber provides a good service. However I feel bad for the people who made investments in the taxi industry by following the law and then had those investments completely devalued by a lawbreaker with good PR. A ton of america's certifications are not necessary, I'd bet. But the proper method for removing those certifications is not to just ignore them with a fat stack of money. One day that will go wrong. Tangentally, I think AirBnb will one day get bitten by this. They're gonna have some shady AirBnb burn down without a fire alarm or give a bunch of people an infectious disease and everyone will realize why we have hotel regulation. Again this is another service of which I am a happy customer, but we are playing with fire.