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Introduction: The WTF? Economy

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O'Reilly, T. (2018). Introduction: The WTF? Economy. In O'Reilly, T. WTF?: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us. Random House Business, pp. 9-22

x

WTF? Without owning a single room, Airbnb has more rooms on offer than some of the largest hotel groups in the world. Airbnb has under 3,000 employees, while Hilton has 152,000. New forms of corporate organization are outcompeting businesses based on best practices that we’ve followed for the lifetimes of most business leaders.

It's worth thinking more on why this is ... it's literally just outsourcing. The work of receptionists has been outsourced to the people who own/rent the dwellings (or sometimes the people who are paid commission/salary to manage it for them...); people who clean these places do so gig-work-style instead of full-time; don't need hotel restaurants cus people eat at local restaurants ... etc. It would be a good thing if it weren't for the way Airbnb takes such a huge cut despite not having the need to (merely because it can)

—p.x by Tim O'Reilly 5 years, 7 months ago

WTF? Without owning a single room, Airbnb has more rooms on offer than some of the largest hotel groups in the world. Airbnb has under 3,000 employees, while Hilton has 152,000. New forms of corporate organization are outcompeting businesses based on best practices that we’ve followed for the lifetimes of most business leaders.

It's worth thinking more on why this is ... it's literally just outsourcing. The work of receptionists has been outsourced to the people who own/rent the dwellings (or sometimes the people who are paid commission/salary to manage it for them...); people who clean these places do so gig-work-style instead of full-time; don't need hotel restaurants cus people eat at local restaurants ... etc. It would be a good thing if it weren't for the way Airbnb takes such a huge cut despite not having the need to (merely because it can)

—p.x by Tim O'Reilly 5 years, 7 months ago
xvi

[...] For every Elon Musk—who wants to reinvent the world’s energy infrastructure, build revolutionary new forms of transport, and settle humans on Mars—there are far too many companies that are simply using technology to cut costs and boost their stock price, enriching those able to invest in financial markets at the expense of an ever-growing group that may never be able to do so. [...]

this hagiography of Elon Musk did NOT age well lmao

—p.xvi by Tim O'Reilly 5 years, 7 months ago

[...] For every Elon Musk—who wants to reinvent the world’s energy infrastructure, build revolutionary new forms of transport, and settle humans on Mars—there are far too many companies that are simply using technology to cut costs and boost their stock price, enriching those able to invest in financial markets at the expense of an ever-growing group that may never be able to do so. [...]

this hagiography of Elon Musk did NOT age well lmao

—p.xvi by Tim O'Reilly 5 years, 7 months ago
xxi

Meanwhile, in hopes that “the market” will deliver jobs, central banks have pushed ever more money into the system, hoping that somehow this will unlock business investment. But instead, corporate profits have reached highs not seen since the 1920s, corporate investment has shrunk, and more than $30 trillion of cash is sitting on the sidelines. The magic of the market is not working.

We are at a very dangerous moment in history. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a global elite is eroding the power and sovereignty of nation-states while globe-spanning technology platforms are enabling algorithmic control of firms, institutions, and societies, shaping what billions of people see and understand and how the economic pie is divided. At the same time, income inequality and the pace of technology change are leading to a populist backlash featuring opposition to science, distrust of our governing institutions, and fear of the future, making it ever more difficult to solve the problems we have created.

I mean at least he gets that bit

—p.xxi by Tim O'Reilly 5 years, 7 months ago

Meanwhile, in hopes that “the market” will deliver jobs, central banks have pushed ever more money into the system, hoping that somehow this will unlock business investment. But instead, corporate profits have reached highs not seen since the 1920s, corporate investment has shrunk, and more than $30 trillion of cash is sitting on the sidelines. The magic of the market is not working.

We are at a very dangerous moment in history. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a global elite is eroding the power and sovereignty of nation-states while globe-spanning technology platforms are enabling algorithmic control of firms, institutions, and societies, shaping what billions of people see and understand and how the economic pie is divided. At the same time, income inequality and the pace of technology change are leading to a populist backlash featuring opposition to science, distrust of our governing institutions, and fear of the future, making it ever more difficult to solve the problems we have created.

I mean at least he gets that bit

—p.xxi by Tim O'Reilly 5 years, 7 months ago