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>> and they enjoyed the freedom and the ability to lease a nice car while also paying their rent. You keep talking about "reality", but the actual reality is t

>> and they enjoyed the freedom and the ability to lease a nice car while also paying their rent. You keep talking about "reality", but the actual reality is that these gig jobs don't pay nearly enough to be able to cover these costs. After all is said and done, a lot of gig workers end up breaking even at best, and sometimes even losing money.

boredumb 4y ago
I was talking about reality because I personally know people who have and are currently doing it and they are able to cover these costs.
AnthonyMouse 4y ago
This is exactly the academic math which is the problem. If you buy a $30,000+ car exclusively to drive for Uber and have it serviced at the dealership instead of doing it yourself, you're probably losing money. But if you have an existing used car that you already need for other reasons, most of the cost (tax, insurance, time-based depreciation) are sunk and the gig can be net profitable while giving flexible hours. People have the right to make that choice for themselves. Anyone who doesn't want it can go take any of the less flexible jobs that would be their only alternative if you prohibited these.
- enraged_camel 4y ago
  >> But if you have an existing used car that you already need for other reasons, most of the cost (tax, insurance, time-based depreciation) are sunk and the gig can be net profitable while giving flexible hours. Most of the costs aren't sunk though, because they increase when you start driving your car a lot more. For example, you need to upgrade your insurance to a commercial vehicle insurance, and in many jurisdictions also register your car as such. Failing to do so can result in denied claims, canceled insurance, fines and penalties.
  - AnthonyMouse 4y ago
    That depends on the jurisdiction and policy and is a choice people can make for themselves. It certainly isn't always worth it, but in the event that it isn't, you don't need a law to prohibit it because it's already not something people have the incentive to do. And if they're doing it anyway, the assumption should not be that they're idiots who need to be prohibited from doing something they apparently choose to do of their own volition, it's that they maybe know something more about their own circumstances than far away bureaucrats do.
standardUser 4y ago
Anyone can make bad financial decisions. It's not like people are being scammed into buying a car. And that car provides significant value beyond its use for work. If someone is only breaking even or losing money from their work, they should stop that work, and 99 out of 100 times I believe they will. So the number of people out there continually "losing money" from gig jobs must be tiny.

boredumb 4y ago

I was talking about reality because I personally know people who have and are currently doing it and they are able to cover these costs.

AnthonyMouse 4y ago

This is exactly the academic math which is the problem. If you buy a $30,000+ car exclusively to drive for Uber and have it serviced at the dealership instead of doing it yourself, you're probably losing money. But if you have an existing used car that you already need for other reasons, most of the cost (tax, insurance, time-based depreciation) are sunk and the gig can be net profitable while giving flexible hours. People have the right to make that choice for themselves. Anyone who doesn't want it can go take any of the less flexible jobs that would be their only alternative if you prohibited these.

enraged_camel 4y ago
>> But if you have an existing used car that you already need for other reasons, most of the cost (tax, insurance, time-based depreciation) are sunk and the gig can be net profitable while giving flexible hours. Most of the costs aren't sunk though, because they increase when you start driving your car a lot more. For example, you need to upgrade your insurance to a commercial vehicle insurance, and in many jurisdictions also register your car as such. Failing to do so can result in denied claims, canceled insurance, fines and penalties.
- AnthonyMouse 4y ago
  That depends on the jurisdiction and policy and is a choice people can make for themselves. It certainly isn't always worth it, but in the event that it isn't, you don't need a law to prohibit it because it's already not something people have the incentive to do. And if they're doing it anyway, the assumption should not be that they're idiots who need to be prohibited from doing something they apparently choose to do of their own volition, it's that they maybe know something more about their own circumstances than far away bureaucrats do.

standardUser 4y ago

Anyone can make bad financial decisions. It's not like people are being scammed into buying a car. And that car provides significant value beyond its use for work. If someone is only breaking even or losing money from their work, they should stop that work, and 99 out of 100 times I believe they will. So the number of people out there continually "losing money" from gig jobs must be tiny.