Virginia Postrel, Columnist

Innovators Succeed Outside of Regulators' Boxes

Consumers will accept some trade-offs in service and convenience, if entrepreneurs are free to explore.

December 12, 2016 at 2:00 PM UTC

Virginia Postrel is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a visiting fellow at the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy at Chapman University and author, most recently, of “The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World.”

Not every Airbnb can accomodate a 6-foot-6 pitcher.
Photographer: Leon Bennett/Getty Images

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The New York officials and hotel interests who want to drive Airbnb out of the city call the rentals “unregulated hotels” or “illegal hotels.” These accommodations do, of course, compete with hotels. That’s why Mike Barnello, the chief executive of LaSalle Hotel Properties, told analysts that New York’s draconian new law, which imposes fines of up to $7,500 on absent Airbnb hosts, “should be a big boost in the arm” for his business, “certainly in terms of the pricing.”

But no one who has stayed in an Airbnb -- and I have stayed in many -- would confuse them with hotels.