The sharing economy - hippies need not apply!

Neil from the Young Ones - thanks to The BBC

The most recent "big thing" has been dubbed the "sharing economy". And what a lovely image it conjurs up! Your drive is empty, but there's a parking problem? Great! Use the magic of the Internet and let some harassed commuter park on your drive and make a couple of quid into the bargain! Your house is empty over the summer? Fantastic - let it out to some visiting holiday maker. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, if you are expecting a new era of peace & love to break out, then you don't have to look far to see just how unlikely this is in reality. In fact, you only have to to Google the phrase "uber lawsuit" to see where this is all going. At first glance, this seemed like such a good idea. Empty seat in your car + people needing a lift? Why not put the two together, make a few bob, and save the passenger the rip-off price of a taxi? The problem is that the price of a conventional taxi includes lots of old-school, un-cool boring stuff - like qualifications, licensing, roadworthyness & proper commercial insurance. Are Uber drivers equipped to the same level? Be honest now - who would you want to drive your teenage daughter home tonight?

Long-term the outlook is even more worrying. Uber is valued at $51 billion, despite never having turned a profit. The means that the venture capitalists, who continue to pour money into the business, expect the company to make big bucks at some point. One of the scenarios whereby this could happen is that the conventional taxis are driven off the streets, leaving the way clear for the new wave (e.g. Uber) to charge whatever they like.

There's another interesting statistic - only 3% of Uber drivers are still with them after a year. A goodly slice of the lawsuits your search showed up revolve around the alleged mis-treatment of their drivers. So it appears that they not great employers either (not that they claim to be employers - yet more lawsuits revolve around the issue of who is employed, and who is a contractor).

And the latest storm surrounds the alleged mis-use of information & apps to undermine competitors & evade the law.

All-in-all, not the evangelists of flower-power we were hoping for. Sorry Neil.