Max Gulker

Senior Policy Analyst

Max Gulker is a former Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is currently a Senior Fellow with the Reason Foundation. At AIER his research focused on two main areas: policy and technology. On the policy side, Gulker looked at how issues like poverty and access to education can be addressed with voluntary, decentralized approaches that don’t interfere with free markets. On technology, Gulker was interested in emerging fields like blockchain and cryptocurrencies, competitive issues raised by tech giants such as Facebook and Google, and the sharing economy.

Gulker frequently appears at conferences, on podcasts, and on television. Gulker holds a PhD in economics from Stanford University and a BA in economics from the University of Michigan. Prior to AIER, Max spent time in the private sector, consulting with large technology and financial firms on antitrust and other litigation. Follow @maxg_econ.

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10/26/15

Seeking Generational Patterns? Don’t Be a Slacker

It is in our nature to try to identify patterns and draw conclusions that are often incomplete or downright incorrect.
9/28/15

The Unresolvable Debate on Job Creation

If you’re a political candidate, “jobs” is a word that almost guarantees applause at any rally, regardless of party. We all agree that creating and sustaining good jobs is a key priority, but we’ve had essentially the same debate on how to do it for decades. So why do we keep having the same debate? …
8/28/15

Small Business Growth Lags Behind Overall Economy

Conventional wisdom says that small businesses increasingly struggle in today’s economy. We have compared how smaller businesses have fared versus larger firms over time, and find at least some evidence to support that conventional wisdom. In terms of employment and sales, small firms have not kept pace with overall economic growth. These results hold up…
8/13/15

One Answer to Hillary Clinton’s Uber Concerns

The employment status of Uber’s drivers and other workers in the “sharing economy” has become a hot political issue, with Hillary Clinton and others criticizing the lack of protections and benefits afforded to independent contractors. Implicit in this criticism is the notion that independent contractor status is a bad deal for workers. However, reclassifying contractors…
6/25/15

The Uber Model Has Its Limits

Will the “sharing economy” fundamentally change the way we work? Platforms like the taxi service Uber, and the vacation rental service AirBnB, sever traditional bonds between a company and its employees, instead providing platforms where customers and independent contractors match themselves for the service in question. Service providers can make themselves available at times of…