Michael Munger on the Sharing Economy

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4.7 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2014

⏱️ 63 minutes

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Summary

Mike Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the sharing economy--companies like Uber, AirBnB, FlightApp, and DogVacay that let people share their houses, cars, or other assets with strangers in exchange for money. These companies dramatically increase the use of resources that would otherwise be idle and disrupt existing services such as hotels and taxis. Topics discussed include the regulatory response to these companies, the politics of that response, and the significance of these new products. The conversation closes with the potential impact of Uber combining with driverless cars to change the automobile industry and cities.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty. I'm your host, Russ Roberts,
0:07.8	of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Our website is econtalk.org, or you can subscribe,
0:14.4	comment on this podcast, and find links and other information related to today's conversation.
0:19.6	You'll also find our archives where you can listen to every episode we've ever done going
0:23.3	back to 2006. Our email address is mailadycontalk.org. We'd love to hear from you.
0:32.0	Today is July 2nd, 2014, and my guest is finally Mike Munger of Duke University. Mike is the
0:40.1	Hank Aaron of Econ Talk, guess? Having appeared in astounding 25 times by my account, Mike, welcome
0:46.8	back to Econ Talk. It's a pleasure. It's taken me this long actually to get over the end of the
0:51.7	baseball season. Well, I'm sorry about the Hank Aaron reference. I would have said,
0:56.2	stay unusual, but he's not the all-time home run leader of fine and extraordinary player that he was,
1:01.9	but as many listeners will remember, you are a cardinal span, which is why I mentioned that.
1:07.0	Right. I think I'm actually just Cal Ripken. I have the most games, not the most home runs.
1:11.2	Uh-huh. Good point. Yeah, you're the the iron horse, if I may make another reference.
1:16.9	Uh-huh. We made a prediction. You reminded me before we started recording this a long time ago.
1:23.3	It was a joking prediction that the Cardinals and Red Sox would actually appear in the World
1:28.0	Series, and I'm almost sorry that happened, although I have to say, unlike 2004, the Cardinals
1:33.2	were not swept this time. So it wasn't quite so bad, but I still wake up screaming.
1:38.1	I'm sorry to hear that. Um, I still suffer from 1967, and even though 46 was before I was born,
1:45.0	I have virtually never suffered. Yeah, no, I'm not spoiled. Um, our topic for today is not
1:54.9	the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. Our topic for today is what
1:59.5	is called by some the sharing economy and by others, the peer-to-peer economy. And it's the rise
2:07.1	of web-based and typically iPhone-based ways to share your house, your car, even your pets,
	...

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