Think what you will about Uber and AirBnb (I happen to dislike Uber as a tech employer) -- they are certainly offering real growth. I have used Uber (and Lyft)

Think what you will about Uber and AirBnb (I happen to dislike Uber as a tech employer) -- they are certainly offering real growth. I have used Uber (and Lyft) and Airbnb (and VRBO/HomeAway) to do things that I otherwise wouldn't have done. In other words, rides I wouldn't have called a taxi for, and trips I wouldn't have taken because I find the typical hotel experience to be more trouble than it's worth with two small children. I think you should also consider the utilization side of things -- people are getting value out of a depreciating asset that would otherwise be unutilized. Simply from an account perspective this is valuable (and probably more economically valuable than helping support rent-seeking medallion owners). The Freakonomics podcast had a really good economic justification for Uber specifically that goes beyond what I've described here. It's worth listening to (and I can't seem to link to it directly: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538045/freakonomics-radio http://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538045/freakonomics-radio -- September 7th).