Set the gig economy free to grow

The gig economy is one of the great growth stories of the decade, says Matthew Lynn. It is creating jobs in a way that no other sector can.

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In the UK, some 14 million people work outside a nine-to-five set-up

Whether it is selling a few things on eBay, renting out a room on Airbnb, or working as a full-time freelancer, more and more of us are now working in the gig economy. If you include people who do a bit of trading on the side and the traditional self-employed, around 14 million people in the UK have some kind of work outside the traditional nine-to-five, according to consultants McKinsey.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.