There’s something that I don’t like about the so called “sharing economy”; It hurts mostly workers that have already fairly low wages and precarious jobs.

See, for an average customer to use the “sharing”, such services needs to be a commodity. It needs to be interchangeable. You want to go from point “A” to point “B” or you want a room for the night.

Sure, you care about the attitude of the driver or the cleanliness of the car like you would care about the size of the room, if it quiet and well located, but at the end, you want a fairly straightforward service.

It is transforming the taxi and the hotel industry but in doing so, it push workers into even more precarious jobs. Those who work part time as Über drivers earn a few extra buck but they are doing it at the expense of their free time and are wearing off their car faster. Is it really wise?

In many countries, regulators are changing the rules to allow these “sharing” organisation to grow. What I would like to see is what would be law makers reaction if companies started to enter areas with more skilled required.

Some example that I was thinking about:

-Civil Engineering: Part time engineers shared their free time to build a bridge.

-Revenue: The IRS in the USA (or any other national revenue services) outsources the review of tax form to people with free time that can do it on the cheap.

-Legal Counsel: You need a contract drawn or reviewed? Why pay $400 an hour for a lawyer when someone in India would be happy to do it for $10!

Yes, this is I would like to see.