Uber and Drivers' Unions Now Unite Against Self-Driving Cars, Sparking AI Productivity Debate
carlbfrey · x · 2026-09-04
Economist Carl Benedikt Frey cites Parente & Prescott's 1999 paper 'Monopoly Rights: A Barrier to Riches' to explain why AI productivity gains are slow to materialize.
- Taxi incumbents once resisted Uber; now Uber and drivers' unions are joining forces to resist self-driving cars — incumbents never like competition
- The paper argues monopoly arrangements by input-supplier coalitions keep inferior technologies in place; removing them could raise output by roughly an order of magnitude
- Frey's takeaway: incumbent resistance is one reason AI productivity gains take time — and in some cases may never fully materialize
A substantive take on the political economy of AI-driven disruption, connecting decades-old monopoly research to today's robotaxi fight.
Related event: Uber Teams With Unions Against Self-Driving Cars, Citing Monopoly Economics(2 posts)→
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