CREATIVE DESTRUCTION: UBER DISRUPTION

If you have been following my blog, you know I have frequently written about Uber and other marketplaces.   Uber is a fascinating story about how a “simple” app has disrupted a very traditional business.

Recently a blog I read frequently from Rob Gluck, a principal at High Lantern Group, he mentioned an article from the American Enterprise Institute.  Without fear of plagiarizing, I am transcribing word for word, Rob’s short summary:

“The American Enterprise Institute’s Mark Perry offers devastating evidence of how Uber has undone the taxi industry. With a killer chart, Perry shows us that, after tracking the S&P 500 Index for decades, the share price of Medallion Financial – a publicly traded company that buys and resells New York taxi licenses – has fallen by 58% from its November 2013 peak during a time when the S&P 500 has increased by 7.1%”.

This is why taxis are fighting Uber in every city but it’s a lost cause – in the end it is a more efficient way to get transportation.   I do believe, and I said it before, that lawmakers have to adapt laws to make the competition more fair in terms of taxes and permits.  But Uber and similar companies are here to stay – to the great benefit of consumers.