Uber's 'my way or the highway' won't fly

DON'T get me wrong. Real innovations are important - and increasingly hard to come by. In a never-ending flood of app offerings created in Silicon Valley, Uber seems to be one of the few based on a really good idea.

Unfortunately, the way in which Uber is going about its business is more reminiscent of the operating style of the George W Bush Administration in Iraq and elsewhere. He was famous for the "invade first, ask questions later" model.

The most breathtaking element of the Uber standard operating formula is to argue, as the company's top executives regularly do, that no laws apply to the company. Why? Because - get this - the sharing economy wasn't invented when the relevant laws and regulations for taxis were written. Ayn Rand, the godmother of all libertarians in America, must feel like resurrecting herself in excitement.