The Gig Economy: Better get used to it is coming for many more jobs

Workers Welcome Post-Blue World

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Politicians hate the gig economy because it cuts off their avenue to graft, and corruption. A small but significant minority of people hate it likely because it makes them personally accountable, and this unnerves them. The rest really like the arrangement since it allows them to decide hours, days, time of work, length of work day, and most other work place practices. 

The real problem as Mead outlines is that the current establishment views the gig economy as a serious threat, and so is seeking to force 19th (let's be honest here, these requirements are 19th century) century work place demands on 21st century gig economy independent contractors. This is to help unions maintain their function. If we were ever to move into the 21st century, the union would nearly instantaneously disappear. 

While Mead has the right ideas, they are much to shallow. We need to replace all of our current business related tax benefits like retirement plans, health care insurance, etc., with high quality individual accounts which have incentives for the poorer to save/invest through tax breaks/deductions/credits and the like. We need to take these benefits out of the employment relationship, by denying the corporation a tax deduction for these services, and offering it only to the individual. Then ensure the lowest cost products, by eliminating the majority of regulations on these services, and enforcing the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution. Individuals should be able to insure, save, and invest with anyone anywhere in the US they choose. This would quickly cause the reduction, and increased competition in these services resulting in lower costs, affordability, and better access. Government assistance through direct deposit into the HSA accounts of poorer individuals could help with affordability, without increasing the size of government. This should be simply an algorithm which determines "poor" status, and the size of the government assistance to the individual. 

Marry this to the elimination of the complete income tax code, and all wealth taxes (income, corporation, partnership, estate, gift and many other taxes), and the imposition of a simple sales tax to fund the federal government, and suddenly government is incentivized to increase economic growth, not dis-incentivized to increase economic growth as it is today.