Airbnb offers free lodging to COVID-19 responders

As Tourism Craters, Airbnb and Hotels Offer Shelter to Coronavirus Responders | Reason - Scott Shackford:

March 26, 2020 - "The spread of the coronavirus has decimated tourism across the world, shutting down hotels, restaurants, airports, tourism destinations, amusement parks, beaches, cruise ships, and concert halls.... The result is a devastating drop in demand for home-sharing services provided by companies like Airbnb. People aren't staying in hotels, and they're also not renting Airbnb units.

"Eventually, tourism and room rentals will recover. But for now, Airbnb is announcing that it is trying to assist with the coronavirus fight by encouraging its hosts to offer their rental units to temporarily house coronavirus responders, such as doctors, nurses, and other health care workers.

"According to Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky on Twitter, the program was piloted in France and Italy, where nearly 6,000 hosts volunteered to allow coronavirus responders to stay in their rentals. Today, the service announced it's expanding this program worldwide and is looking for 100,000 hosts to participate.... Airbnb is currently working with the International Rescue Committee, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the International Medical Corps in order to connect responders and hosts.

"In order to offer up your space to host, you have to follow a strict cleaning and disinfecting regimen to prepare the space, and no other people can be present at the listing. You can't just rent a spare bedroom to a nurse or aid worker. Airbnb is also waiving all of its own fees. Unit owners and operators have the option to host for free if they want to 'donate' their rental, but it's not necessary in order for them to participate.

"On Twitter, Chesky is noting that hosts have been quick to volunteer. As of noon today, he says 1,500 Airbnb hosts have offered up their homes since this morning's announcement. It's not clear how many of these homes or rentals are proximate to locations where health care workers need to be, or what percentage of hosts have reduced their rates....

"Hotels are getting in on the act as well, both in America and other countries. Veronique de Rugy noted that the private sector is working to solve a number of problems the government is too slow to tackle. Hotels and private residences make for better and safer resting places for coronavirus workers than some tent cities that will force these people (who themselves are at constant risk of infection) into regular close proximity."

Read more: https://reason.com/2020/03/26/as-tourism-craters-airbnb-and-hotels-offer-shelter-to-coronavirus-responders/

Government versus the sharing economy

The government needs to stop stifling economic growth — commentary - Gary Johnson, CNBC:

August 24, 2016 - "The sharing economy has captivated the attention of so many users and participants because services like Uber and Lyft enable more efficiency and convenience than hailing a cab. Have a spare room to rent out? That's done simply and easily with Airbnb or HomeAway.

"Technology is making it easier for all of us to be entrepreneurs — and that's a good thing.

"What should be the government's role in looking at such services as new opportunity generators? It's simple: Government should stay out of the way....

"But instead we're seeing established politicians team up with special interests in an effort to strangle new forms of enterprise and innovation from gaining traction — and threatening those special interests. Politicians like Hillary Clinton look at sharing services like travel, ride-sharing, finance, staffing, and music and video streaming and see a problem....

"Entrepreneurship may be celebrated in the abstract — but too many politicians have no hesitation in using government power to stop innovation. The challenge has become so obstructive that one technology trade group, the Consumer Technology Association, has had to put together a 'Disruptive Innovation Council' to specifically fight governments and established companies from strangling new businesses in the cradle....

"The establishment isn't really interested in making our lives easier or more convenient. To the contrary, their self- interests are best served by protecting us to death. Indeed, the Obama administration's Labor Department is so intent on tightening the classifications of independent contractors that soon there won't be any.

"City after city is regulating and outright banning Airbnb — prohibiting homeowners from earning extra cash, much of which, ironically, would be spent in those same communities, providing jobs and, yes, tax revenues.

"The same kind of special interest assault on entrepreneurship is happening under the name of occupational licensing. In the 1970s, only 10 percent of workers were subject to such licensing, a number that now totals 30 percent, according to a Morris M. Kleiner report. Lifting restrictions on occupational licensing is one of four keys to unlocking U.S. economic growth, according to the Cato Institute.

"The entrepreneurial economy exemplified by companies like Uber and Airbnb is really only beginning. Besides the expected growth in nontraditional approaches to services like travel, ride-sharing and staffing, technology and entrepreneurs will soon take us to places where other services, such as health care, will be similarly transformed — if only government and the politicians will get out of the way.

"Being ever an optimist, I am confident that even the government cannot forever stand in the way of an entrepreneurial transformation that consumers and the marketplace are so clearly demanding. And the result of that revolution will be really good for all of us, with the possible exception of recalcitrant politicians and their special interest patrons."

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/24/the-government-needs-to-stop-stifling-economic-growth-gary-johnson-commentary.html
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The Libertarian Moment is alive and well

The Libertarian Moment Is Alive and Well, Regardless of Rand Paul's Campaign - Tom Mullen, Huffington Post:

October 5, 2015 - "Rand Paul's campaign reported $2.5 million in donations for the entire third quarter, a precipitous drop from his previous reports.... That and anemic poll numbers have inspired many to not only pronounce Paul's presidential campaign dead, but to gleefully declare the so-called 'Libertarian Moment' over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 "Anyone who believes the presidential election is a barometer of how libertarian America is becoming doesn't understand libertarianism and isn't paying attention to what's happening in the real world. Libertarians don't believe government solves anything, no matter who is running it. The purest libertarians refuse to vote on principle.

 "As radical as that might sound, almost half of all eligible American voters behave the same way, if not for the same reasons.... For the most part, they're not stupid. They just don't care. They may say they support this or that candidate when a microphone is shoved in their face, but in reality they live their lives, do their jobs and run their businesses without giving politics a second thought. This is an inherently libertarian worldview and it's growing....

"What Americans are interested in is the market and what it can offer them, regardless of what the government says or even legislates. Sharing economy companies like Uber and Airbnb are growing exponentially because they offer higher quality products at substantially lower prices. They are able to do so precisely because they either sidestep or openly flout the protectionist regulation supported by their established competitors....

"[G]un sales have exploded in the past fifteen years, despite strong anti-gun rhetoric following highly publicized mass shootings. This isn't limited to red states in flyover country. Gun sales have even seen a meteoric rise in deep blue California....

"Almost half of U.S. states have legalized medical marijuana in open defiance of federal law. Four states have legalized recreational use. They have consistently used the libertarian non-aggression principle as their reasoning: if it does not harm the person or property of someone else, the government shouldn't have the power to prohibit it.

"An overwhelming majority of states legalized gay marriage ... ten states ... through their legislatures.... [A] majority of Americans support gay marriage, but oppose forcing businesses to serve same sex couples if they don't want to ... perfectly consistent with the libertarian principle that government force should never be brought against those who have not aggressed against the person or property of another....

"The future will be even more libertarian than the present. Technology and the marketplace are threatening to render centuries-old government institutions largely irrelevant. What meaning will trade regulations have when 3-D printers disrupt the manufacturing industry? What will the who-will-build-the-roads crowd say to libertarians when hovercraft technology reaches its full market potential? How will the Federal Reserve control the economy when Bitcoin or its successors reaches theirs?"

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-mullen/the-libertarian-moment-is_b_8242024.html