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Absolutely. All things are turning into the economics of superstars so long as they're subject to network effects and the widest, most fluid and well-informed p

Absolutely. All things are turning into the economics of superstars so long as they're subject to network effects and the widest, most fluid and well-informed possible market. Uber drivers will turn into the economics of superstars. Amazon warehouse workers will turn into the economics of superstars. You'll keep on getting individual ultra-high performers who dominate whatever area it is, and more ordinary performers will just plain fail.

whatshisface 8y ago
Amazon warehouse workers are limited by human physiology to move boxes within 10x of the average box moving speed. That disqualifies them from the superstar economy.
projektir 8y ago
I'm not sure how your conclusion follows. Uber drivers and warehouse workers are unlikely to undergo this effect because no matter how good an Uber driver is, they can't be in multiple places at once. Similarly, there's a limit to how much one warehouse worker can do.
- macspoofing 8y ago
  Kid of. You'll still see a small minority of Uber drivers making money and a large percentage breaking even or losing money. It's like that in the real-estate market, where a small minority of agents take in most of the profit and a large number breaking even or losing money. This is also why you see trade groups frequently supporting policies to increase barriers for market entry. In real-estate this means higher and higher licensing standards. For example in Canada it costs around $6k and 3 years to get fully licensed [1].. which is crazy. But the real-estate lobby wants it even higher. [1]https://www.remic.ca/real-estate-sales-person-vs-mortgage-agent/ https://www.remic.ca/real-estate-sales-person-vs-mortgage-ag...
  - varjag 8y ago
    Real estate is infrequent high value transactions with high margin/commission. Doubling your real estate sales can well make you rich; doubling your Uber driving would not.
    - macspoofing 8y ago
      No doubt there are differences between the markets but at a high-level similar forces act on both. That is, in both cases, the vast majority of participants either break-even or lose money. A small minority makes money (and therefore takes in most of the profit to be had). The uber market, because it centralized and has an impartial dispatcher (i.e. Uber corporate), that market will probably be more egalitarian. Overall though, the same dynamics play out. For real-estate, some numbers that I saw had 51% of licensed real-estate agents making one or zero transaction in the past year.
Nokinside 8y ago
Uber drivers and Amazon warehouse workers work don't scale. There is only 24 hours in a day and compensation difference are relatively small.
deleted 8y ago
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whatshisface 8y ago

Amazon warehouse workers are limited by human physiology to move boxes within 10x of the average box moving speed. That disqualifies them from the superstar economy.

projektir 8y ago

I'm not sure how your conclusion follows. Uber drivers and warehouse workers are unlikely to undergo this effect because no matter how good an Uber driver is, they can't be in multiple places at once. Similarly, there's a limit to how much one warehouse worker can do.

macspoofing 8y ago
Kid of. You'll still see a small minority of Uber drivers making money and a large percentage breaking even or losing money. It's like that in the real-estate market, where a small minority of agents take in most of the profit and a large number breaking even or losing money. This is also why you see trade groups frequently supporting policies to increase barriers for market entry. In real-estate this means higher and higher licensing standards. For example in Canada it costs around $6k and 3 years to get fully licensed [1].. which is crazy. But the real-estate lobby wants it even higher. [1]https://www.remic.ca/real-estate-sales-person-vs-mortgage-agent/ https://www.remic.ca/real-estate-sales-person-vs-mortgage-ag...
- varjag 8y ago
  Real estate is infrequent high value transactions with high margin/commission. Doubling your real estate sales can well make you rich; doubling your Uber driving would not.
  - macspoofing 8y ago
    No doubt there are differences between the markets but at a high-level similar forces act on both. That is, in both cases, the vast majority of participants either break-even or lose money. A small minority makes money (and therefore takes in most of the profit to be had). The uber market, because it centralized and has an impartial dispatcher (i.e. Uber corporate), that market will probably be more egalitarian. Overall though, the same dynamics play out. For real-estate, some numbers that I saw had 51% of licensed real-estate agents making one or zero transaction in the past year.

Nokinside 8y ago

Uber drivers and Amazon warehouse workers work don't scale. There is only 24 hours in a day and compensation difference are relatively small.

deleted 8y ago

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