Surge pricing in Uber's case is not rent-seeking if surge-pricing actually increases supply (i.e. more drivers on the road). My gut says it doesn't ( don't thin

Surge pricing in Uber's case is not rent-seeking if surge-pricing actually increases supply (i.e. more drivers on the road). My gut says it doesn't ( don't think that drivers get out on the road fast enough), but I don't have the data to prove that. But in the case of parking spaces, I don't see how me being able to out-bid you for the last space makes me a more qualified candidate for that parking space. I'm paying a higher price for the same good, the number of spaces isn't going up, and the owner got richer without adding any value. Textbook definition of rent-seeking if I've ever seen one. High parking tension means that people will try to make more parking, but is that the most effecient allocation of resources? What about alternative solutions, like mass transit? This is a digression, but you mentioned it with supply. On a more pragmatic level I don't really think the ultra-rich have that much more of a right to a parking space downtown on a Saturday any more than I do, and a parking space is more or less a public good (and should be shared as such).