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This seems to vindicate the 56 per cent of Canadians who say the sharing economy drives down wages, at least in the case of Uber. But does this mean the 40 per cent who say the sharing economy improves our lives are wrong? Not at all. In fact, it turns out they’re right, too. From 2011 to 2016, according to the same report, despite Uber making producers in the taxi industry worse off, the combined consumer and producer economic surplus across the taxi and private transportation industries increased by 39 per cent.

In other words, the introduction of Uber did drive down wages for taxi drivers. But their economic loss was more than offset by both the economic value of Uber to Uber drivers and the gains enjoyed by consumers who now have more and cheaper options for travelling around the city. Uber is not exceptional in reducing wages for some while producing a significant net gain for society as whole. Innovations that enrich society generally disrupt the labour market and, in the short run, have a negative effect on employment and wages in some industries.

For example, due to technological progress and trade, only two per cent of Canadian workers today are employed in agriculture, compared with 33 per cent a century ago. The erosion of agricultural employment did hurt those who lost their jobs over the years, but the long-run effect is that because we now need only two per cent of workers to feed the country — not to mention large parts of the world — we have freed up millions of people to produce other wonderful things that were unavailable to Canadians in 1920: electric cars, computer software, laser eye surgeries, household appliances, better financial services, you name it.