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It's all about corporate entities with massive analysis resources using information asymmetry to offload risk onto individuals who are not in a position to unde

It's all about corporate entities with massive analysis resources using information asymmetry to offload risk onto individuals who are not in a position to understand what they are agreeing to. ETA: Yep, insurance costs are on the workers. From https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/walmart-begins-testing-using-store-staff-for-last-mile-deliveries/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/walmart-begins-testing-usi... : Workers also have to submit to additional background checks, motor vehicle record inspections and provide proof of insurance.

pembrook 9y ago
This hits it right on the head. Wal-mart has all the data and resources to analyze it for efficiency opportunities. Not only that, they also have have the marketing muscle to "brand" this program internally and make it seem appealing to their lowest wage workers. Meanwhile, the average Wal-mart worker (many of whom are actually on food stamps and struggling to get by) has none of the resources or education or even time to properly evaluate this deal. No single mother with a high-school level education holding down 2 jobs to feed her family is going to have the time to properly discount the statistical increases to risk of injury; vehicular accidents and the subsequent insurance premium increases; the myriad of vehicle-related depreciation costs; the fuel consumption implications; the increased risk of encountering crime; etc. Ultimately, the power and incentive structures at play here are inevitably going to lean toward exploitation in the absence of protections being built in to the program.
- rectang 9y ago
  Something I really hope to understand better is what opportunities we have to improve the efficiency of the labor economy, so that labor resources are allocated according to better information. This would drive down the margins of exploitative companies, while improving the efficiency of the economy as a whole. I'd like to think that such an approach is compatible with a "left-libertarian" marketplace-friendly outlook.

pembrook 9y ago

This hits it right on the head. Wal-mart has all the data and resources to analyze it for efficiency opportunities. Not only that, they also have have the marketing muscle to "brand" this program internally and make it seem appealing to their lowest wage workers. Meanwhile, the average Wal-mart worker (many of whom are actually on food stamps and struggling to get by) has none of the resources or education or even time to properly evaluate this deal. No single mother with a high-school level education holding down 2 jobs to feed her family is going to have the time to properly discount the statistical increases to risk of injury; vehicular accidents and the subsequent insurance premium increases; the myriad of vehicle-related depreciation costs; the fuel consumption implications; the increased risk of encountering crime; etc. Ultimately, the power and incentive structures at play here are inevitably going to lean toward exploitation in the absence of protections being built in to the program.

rectang 9y ago
Something I really hope to understand better is what opportunities we have to improve the efficiency of the labor economy, so that labor resources are allocated according to better information. This would drive down the margins of exploitative companies, while improving the efficiency of the economy as a whole. I'd like to think that such an approach is compatible with a "left-libertarian" marketplace-friendly outlook.