The Sharing Economy Presentation at 4th Asper INTLaw Conference 2018

The Sharing Economy: A story of creative destruction and the erosion of barriers to entry.  It was a most unusual funeral. On April 29, 2017, 20 people walked mournfully through Toronto’s Kensington neighbourhood. Incense wafted from the front of the procession, followed by a saxophone player and a traditional drummer. Behind them two people carried a mock casket. People followed with protest signs. Who was the object of their mourning? Actually, it was no person at all. The ceremony was a “Requiem for Rental Housing.” And, according to these protesters, the neighbourhood’s long-term rentals did not die a natural death. They were murdered. And the killer was the short-term rental company, Airbnb.