There will always be some percentage of the population that are desperate for money, but that percentage has been rising. The rise of desperation has correlated with the rise of the sharing economy. How can you say the sharing economy would still have succeeded without that correlation?
I think they are largely unrelated. The rise of desperation has been mostly due to factors like the 2008 financial crash, deflationary monetary conditions and the globalisation of the the labor market. Airbnb on the other hand is kind of cool and I'd use it anyway. The 'sharing economy' companies may be doing a bit better than they would under easier economic conditions I'll give you.
