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I'd assume active participants on an Uber driver's forum are going to be better informed than the average driver, but may not be representative. Maybe Uber reli

by tdeck 6y ago

I'd assume active participants on an Uber driver's forum are going to be better informed than the average driver, but may not be representative. Maybe Uber relies on churning through less informed people to "fill the gaps" and provide service in less profitable (for drivers) locations or timeslots.

renewiltord 6y ago
What about the hypothesis that Uber drivers are not the idiots techies think they are and are totally capable of accounting for all these things? There are still good reasons to drive below minimum wage.
- tdeck 6y ago
  All I can think is that you saw "less informed" and read "idiot", but that's not what I wrote. Not everyone makes it a hobby to optimize their finances down to the last detail - in fact most people don't. I'm probably leaving money on the table with my retirement savings - perhaps there are lower cost funds or tax-loss harvesting I could be doing if I spent hours each week reading personal finance blogs. That doesn't mean I'm an idiot, and it's the same with drivers who don't necessarily calculate wear and depreciation for every last mile.
  - EricE 6y ago
    So to save the “less informed” CA politicians passed a hideous, law written for the legislature by unions and ended up taking out a bunch of industries besides just Uber and Lyft. My favorite group are all the liberal tech writers, the majority of which fell under AB5 and are now freaking out too. Unintended consequences are often far more damaging than just letting markets sort things out. And who says making less than minimum wage is always a bad thing? A lot of people drive for these services as supplemental income. It’s NOT their primary income, yet all your arguments are coming solely from that perspective. How presumptive of you.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  Most people in general are less informed about finances. Just because you discovered https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php isn't evidence otherwise.

by tdeck 6y ago

renewiltord 6y ago

What about the hypothesis that Uber drivers are not the idiots techies think they are and are totally capable of accounting for all these things? There are still good reasons to drive below minimum wage.

tdeck 6y ago
All I can think is that you saw "less informed" and read "idiot", but that's not what I wrote. Not everyone makes it a hobby to optimize their finances down to the last detail - in fact most people don't. I'm probably leaving money on the table with my retirement savings - perhaps there are lower cost funds or tax-loss harvesting I could be doing if I spent hours each week reading personal finance blogs. That doesn't mean I'm an idiot, and it's the same with drivers who don't necessarily calculate wear and depreciation for every last mile.
- EricE 6y ago
  So to save the “less informed” CA politicians passed a hideous, law written for the legislature by unions and ended up taking out a bunch of industries besides just Uber and Lyft. My favorite group are all the liberal tech writers, the majority of which fell under AB5 and are now freaking out too. Unintended consequences are often far more damaging than just letting markets sort things out. And who says making less than minimum wage is always a bad thing? A lot of people drive for these services as supplemental income. It’s NOT their primary income, yet all your arguments are coming solely from that perspective. How presumptive of you.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
Most people in general are less informed about finances. Just because you discovered https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php isn't evidence otherwise.