Become a Patron! I've been following with interest the development and passage of AB 5, California's attempt to end the misclassification of employees, especially at app-based and platform companies including household names like Uber and Lyft. What I found is that there's a high degree of confusion surrounding the need for the bill, whom it will affect and how, and why … [Read more...] about California’s AB 5 is about benefits, not wages or unions
self-employment
Why workers should fight for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, too
Become a Patron! Even though this blog is committed to promoting entrepreneurship, I often say I don't think everyone should become an entrepreneur, for the fundamental reason that not everyone wants to become an entrepreneur. Plenty of people want to go to work, do their job as well as they can (or as badly as they can get away with), and get paid a predictable amount on a … [Read more...] about Why workers should fight for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, too
Means-testing and Appalachian roots
In October, 2017, the Washington Post published a very strange series of articles about the recipients of disability benefits in the United States. The entire series is worth reading for various reasons, but I want to direct your attention to one particular entry: After the check is gone. The principal character in the article, Donna Jean Dempsey, collects aluminum cans … [Read more...] about Means-testing and Appalachian roots
What’s the optimal amount of self-employment income?
Because of the antipathy of American politicians to low-income people, who mostly don't vote and mostly don't make large campaign contributions, we've been blessed with a fractured and dysfunctional welfare state, designed to make income support as cumbersome and difficult as possible to receive, even or perhaps especially for those people who are, in fact, entitled to … [Read more...] about What’s the optimal amount of self-employment income?
Free Business Idea: Virtual Reality Saloons
The other day I went down to the mall and happened to arrive during a shift change at the customer service desk. I wandered over to a row of couches and sat down to watch a Microsoft Store employee playing a game using the store's virtual reality set-up. Seeing as I had 15 minutes to kill, I asked him if I could try it out. I believe the system they had set up was … [Read more...] about Free Business Idea: Virtual Reality Saloons