Free Agent Nation
The Organization Man is history. Taking his place is America's new economic icon: the "free agent"--the job-hopping, tech-savvy, fulfillment-seeking, self-reliant, independent worker. Already 30 million strong, these new "dis-organization" men and women are transforming America in ways both profound and exhilarating. Are you ready for... 7 The Peter-Out Principle: Successor to the famous "Peter Principle," this new rule decrees that when the fun peters out, the talented walk out. 7 Unschooling: Individual-centered learning like homeschooling and apprenticeships will threaten Ivy League colleges and end high school as we know it. 7 Individual Public Offerings: The upper echelon of free agents will issue these new "IPOs," or stock... in themselves.7 E-tirement: When Americans reach age sixty-five, more will enter a new stage of life. Working as full-time, part-time, and anytime free agents, they'll be finding and executing work over the Internet.7 Just-in-time Politics: This political version of just-in-time manufacturing will challenge the present two-party system.7 The Feminine Century: Women are free agency's early adopters. Ma
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What Hacker News says
- "Free Agent Nation" came out in 2001. Pink did a great job describing what was happening, and what would continue to happen with the job market (independent working, gig economy, no company loyalty, jobs for life gone, all that):
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2008-06-10/free-agent-na...
I read it back then, but I think it's just as relevant today.
- Agreed.
Free Agent Nation [2001] advocated working for one self. But somehow we ended up with gig work.
What happened? Was "free agent" just another self-help con? A pretty good idea subverted? Unrealistic whimsy given our winner-takes-all economy?
I'm for more small businesses. I don't know how we get back to that.
Ideas?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165415.Free_Agent_Nation
- I find it funny that the news media treats working for yourself as a new relatively phenomena fueled by a few companies when Daniel Pink (and others) were thoroughly documenting the shift from salaried to self-employed as far back as 2002.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165415.Free_Agent_Nation
All the current crop of companies did is reduce the transaction costs low enough to democratize working for yourself just about anything can participate. Once anyone can participate, it's a natural outcome that earnings in these markets will deflate and stabilize around the price that the least skilled/educated are willing to work for.
The biggest irony is that without these companies, a lot of the people doing this kind of would probably be unemployed or underemployed. There was a LOT of latent demand that went unsatisfied.
Transportation network companies haven't just taken away some of the demand from existing options like taxies and livery companies, but have increased the size of the market by at least one other of magnitude in terms of rides and miles driven. AirBnB enabled people to capitalize on under-utilized real estate assets that they own or rent with a little administrative overhead as the only labor input.
The real failure isn't the gig economy, but government economic policy that drives some aspects of living costs higher while real income drops. The biggest culprit here are housing costs. Deflation in real income isn't a problem if there is a corresponding deflation in cost of living expenses as well.
- A previous generation of the 'gig economy' hype was 'Free Agent Nation', a 2002 Daniel Pink book that extolled the virtues of being your own boss. The economy was cratering and in reality it became a game of musical chairs for what work was available.
https://www.amazon.com/Free-Agent-Nation-Working-Yourself/dp...
This all promotes a race to the bottom for least pay and lack of benefits IMO. Given that medical costs are a cynical for-profit business in the USA it's odd there is such enthusiasm in some quarters for these ideas.
I do know several people who fly around the word making money hand over fist speaking about the joys of this brave new era...presumably lots of people are showing up to hear the dream...
