Zero-interest-rate policy funded Uber’s predatory-growth expansion model

Evidence

In a time of ZIRP (zero-interest-rate policy), Uber leveraged cheap capital to subsidize rides, undercutting traditional taxis and capturing a massive user base. The company hemorrhaged money on every ride but promised investors a bright future—a monopoly that would allow it to raise prices. However, Uber underestimated the competition. Lyft, its gentler rival, gained ground with quirky branding, such as furry pink mustaches adorning its cars. Uber’s ambitions in China also collapsed after burning a billion dollars in a price war with local rival DiDi, forcing a sale of its China operations in 2016. Finally, Uber’s dream of self-driving cars unraveled after its autonomous vehicle killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018. (Two years later, Uber would quietly shutter its self-driving unit.) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 506

Categorization

• XREF: This is the micro-mechanism of the internet-era ‘cheap distribution’ Marx ties to ‘omnivore monoculture’ later — capital abundance flattening cultural and market difference.