Just to be clear, I love corporate profits, particularly when they’re my corporate profits. ;-]
There is a trend, and its causes are relatively broad, but generally are driven by government policy, to reduce human labor. Conservatives can address this and I think Uber/Lyft are pointing it out very well. What benefit is there to workers and consumers of a “taxi license”? It helps crony capitalists and Chicago government.
Chicago recently had a license auction and expected prices to be around $360K minimum per license. Nobody came.
There are too many of these kind of anti-labor regimes in place at the local/county and state level. Wise focus on these kinds of working class economic issues - tariffs that benefit only a few families, cab licenses that have cabbies paying $100/day before they’ve made dime one, etc. are easy sells in an urban setting.
What if the top 10 American cities were run by Rudy Giuliani clones?
Take a look here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/06/20/taxi-medallions-have-been-the-best-investment-in-america-for-years-now-uber-may-be-changing-that/
The trend is real and unless we undo the negative incentives to labor this will force us into a crisis. The result will be permanent transfer payments to what ostensibly would be America’s middle-class. Much of that is already in place.
You have hit the nail on the head. In a fast changing world the government on all levels is clutching for their ability to control who wins and who loses. Instead of allowing entrepreneurs to succeed they seem to want to stifle it. Uber and Tesla’s direct sales are two glaring examples.
You're absolutely right --what gets my pants in a wad is reading "...robust earnings growth by fattening profit margins... ...by laying off workers..." knowing that the Fed's BEA numbers say otherwise. You're also right that a stupid press is only bad while a stupid government is worse.
