The middleman is providing value, is it not? In the case of the food ordering app (let’s say you’re picking up, not getting delivery), they’re increasing discovery for the restaurant, simplifying payment and the ordering experience, organizing and managing the orders for the restaurant, give you a reasonable estimate on when the order should be ready, and provide decent customer service if something goes wrong. I use several apps custom built by restaurants, and they never come anywhere close to the fidelity of a DoorDash/GrubHub.
I don’t know why you think it’s your business to know who is making what. I don’t need to know the salaries of all the engineers at Thumbtack. No one who works for them is a slave. They can quit if they don’t like their compensation. I don’t need to stick my finger in their business and start making demands when I don’t have an inkling of what their financials and contracts even remotely look like. I hope their clearers make a liveable wage, but for someone with no real competitive skills, just having a job may be all you can ask for. If we fix a certain wage floor, some people could end up without a job at all.
Labor markets are hard to regulate well. There are cases under monopoly or monopsony conditions where it’s desirable to do so, but “I just don’t like that” isn’t cause to interfere with efficient markets. You can’t regulate the world to perfection.
If society decides everyone should have a preset minimum standard of living, the burden of meeting that minimum should fall on all of society, not just the handful of firms who deliver a valuable service that requires providing employment to large numbers of unskilled workers.
Yes because then people aren't competing on price but the value of goods and services. Arguably transparency brings us closer to a true free market system as well - with the same other potential pitfalls if not managed for.
I don’t know why you think it’s your business to know who is making what. I don’t need to know the salaries of all the engineers at Thumbtack. No one who works for them is a slave. They can quit if they don’t like their compensation. I don’t need to stick my finger in their business and start making demands when I don’t have an inkling of what their financials and contracts even remotely look like. I hope their clearers make a liveable wage, but for someone with no real competitive skills, just having a job may be all you can ask for. If we fix a certain wage floor, some people could end up without a job at all.
Labor markets are hard to regulate well. There are cases under monopoly or monopsony conditions where it’s desirable to do so, but “I just don’t like that” isn’t cause to interfere with efficient markets. You can’t regulate the world to perfection.