In recent years, much controversy has arisen over companies such as Airbnb and Uber. These two companies are the poster boys of the “sharing economy”–a technological revolution that has allowed millions to become successful entrepreneurs.
City governments (as well as some state and national governments) have fought back and enacted a multitude of restrictions and regulations explicitly aimed at these companies. But while large businesses–Airbnb and Uber–might be the poster boys, individuals–the “little people”–are the actual beneficiaries.
The “sharing economy” allows individuals to make money by using an asset that they own, whether it is a home or a vehicle. Such companies help individuals make a better life for themselves, not by seeking a handout, but by offering a value to willing buyers.
Regulators like to paint the issue as large, out-of-state companies trying to destroy the fabric of a community. As an example, Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League issued a statement in 2017 claiming that
Airbnb is trying to ram through the Legislature their special interest law to ban cities from adopting rules to deal with growing citizen complaints about the company’s hotel operations in residential neighborhoods.
While this might make for a great soundbite, it evades the fact that Airbnb is not a hotel operation. It is a service that connects people who have something to sell with people who want to buy. This is what classified ads and the Yellow Pages did for decades. It is what Amazon, eBay, Craig’s List, and countless other websites do today.
In the “good old days,” things moved slowly. Regulators–those who want to control how others live–could keep up. But in the digital age, things move a little more rapidly. And innovators are finding creative ways to provide values. The regulators, who aren’t interested in progress or individual flourishing, seek to stifle the innovators. And in doing so, they stifle the “little people.”