If I said my startup was part of the “loving economy,” there’s a good chance I could find a poll showing that people are pro-love, but it wouldn’t establish anything about my company. When I asked a Peers press aide for evidence that the appetite for community-building is what’s driving demand for these services, she directed me to a poll showing that 72 percent of Americans believe “sharing builds friendships and relationships.” But the poll offered no definition of “sharing”-the only context was a previous question about sharing “tools and other household items”-and it made no mention of any companies being involved. Peers, the organization that sponsored the Share conference (and which Natalie Foster runs), was co-founded by one of Airbnb’s top marketing executives.

Make no mistake-the big sharing-economy companies are flexing an enormous amount of marketing muscle, from dodgy front groups to dodgy numbers. But what kind of knuckle-dragger would crack down on making friends?

After all, if you’re a regulator, it’s easy to crack down on the commercial use of improperly zoned and insured property. Calling it the modern equivalent of an ancient tribal custom is a rather ingenious rationale for keeping it that way. Another way to put it: For-profit “sharing” represents by far the fastest-growing source of un- and under-regulated commercial activity in the country.

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