Friday, November 15, 2013

But where are the customers' taxi reps?

When politicians decide who gets a taxi, it means big bucks for the industry insiders;
Bidders—restricted to medallions for wheelchair-accessible vehicles—offered as much as $1.26 million for a single placard, which permits the holder to operate one of the city's 13,000 yellow cabs. The medallion auction was the first since 2008, and the initial phase of a planned sale of up to 2,000 medallions over the next several years projected to raise more than $1 billion for the city. The sale was part of a pact among city officials, industry leaders, legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo that created a new class of street-hail vehicles to serve areas outside central Manhattan that yellow cabs have historically under-served.
So, if you already hold one of those medallions, you're richer too. But, we have to ask, why haven't the people who live in those areas outside central Manhattan that yellow cabs have historically under-served, been so tolerant over all these years.

Actually, we know why, concentrated benefits (for taxi industry insiders), but only dispersed costs (for the taxi customer).

The same reason Obamacare will fail to make medical care more available, at lower cost, for Americans.

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