3 ms·

> Most people are bad at calculating financial implications of decisions before them. This is such a horrible take and reeks of nanny state oversight. Millions

> Most people are bad at calculating financial implications of decisions before them. This is such a horrible take and reeks of nanny state oversight. Millions of small business owners make these decisions all the time. Markets have a way of quickly rooting out those who aren’t making good decisions. Government has proven itself to be far less financially competent.

vadym909 5y ago
This may be true in some cases- lots of drivers -many of who are new immigrants-see this as the quickest way to get a job and don’t realize they have no worker protections like paid sick leave, worker’s compensation, that employees get or the tax implications of being a contractor vs employee
- AniseAbyss 5y ago
samastur 5y ago
I said absolutely nothing about government. Millions of small business owners, me including, make these kind (and other) mistakes all the time for various reasons. We are all very much fallible and don't go out of business because most of the time our mistakes don't have huge consequences and everyone else makes their own mistakes too.
mbesto 5y ago
The implication is partially two fold: (1) Most business owners ("millions of small business owners"), especially those that are independent LLC owners, do not fully understand the cost implications of their business's financial health. By their very nature, they do not have dedicated financial expertise, typically lack strong accounting principles, etc. My sister, a personal trainer, is a great example of this. I had to explain to her what "writing off" expenses actually meant. more importantly: (2) Uber knows this and exploits it.
oblio 5y ago
Have you ever heard of MLMs? Of which there are thousands of examples around the world? Herbalife, Forever Living Products, Amway, etc. All based on there being a large chunk of people[1] that don't really understand how money works. [1] I'd put that number based on anecdata, at least at around 20-30% of the population.

vadym909 5y ago

This may be true in some cases- lots of drivers -many of who are new immigrants-see this as the quickest way to get a job and don’t realize they have no worker protections like paid sick leave, worker’s compensation, that employees get or the tax implications of being a contractor vs employee

AniseAbyss 5y ago

samastur 5y ago

I said absolutely nothing about government. Millions of small business owners, me including, make these kind (and other) mistakes all the time for various reasons. We are all very much fallible and don't go out of business because most of the time our mistakes don't have huge consequences and everyone else makes their own mistakes too.

mbesto 5y ago

The implication is partially two fold: (1) Most business owners ("millions of small business owners"), especially those that are independent LLC owners, do not fully understand the cost implications of their business's financial health. By their very nature, they do not have dedicated financial expertise, typically lack strong accounting principles, etc. My sister, a personal trainer, is a great example of this. I had to explain to her what "writing off" expenses actually meant. more importantly: (2) Uber knows this and exploits it.

oblio 5y ago

Have you ever heard of MLMs? Of which there are thousands of examples around the world? Herbalife, Forever Living Products, Amway, etc. All based on there being a large chunk of people[1] that don't really understand how money works. [1] I'd put that number based on anecdata, at least at around 20-30% of the population.