Government often lags behind the private sector in adapting regulation to meet the times. As technology, artificial intelligence and other developments transform industries and create new jobs not even dreamed of in the past, this empowers consumers, entrepreneurs and workers alike. That is, if government can enable, rather than harm progress.Jared Meyer shows in his new book, “Uber-Positive: Why Americans Love the Sharing Economy,” how innovation is endangered by overzealous government regulations shielding incumbent businesses, supposedly in the name of protecting customers.Meyer, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, doesn’t accept this at face value.“The question to ask with each new regulation is: who is actually being protected — the public or special interests?” he writes.The leading candidates of both major parties are appealing to crowds by harking back to manufacturing-based, 20th-century economic policies. Yes, we did have a post-war boom, but those days are long gone, as National Affairs writer Yuval Levin dissects in his recent book. Whether it’s Donald Trump barking about how he’ll bring back manufacturing jobs by government fiat (an endeavor that would likely harm consumers) or Hillary Clinton assailing the “gig economy,” both sides risk jeopardizing the future.Meyer, himself a Millennial, understands these risks…
See original post: Here’s Why America Hearts Uber and the Sharing Economy