[Alex Murphy]

The New York Times reported that the city's first taxi medallion auction since 2008 netted $200 million for the sale of 200 of the licenses, making the average price of entry to legally drive one of the roughly 15,000 yellow cabs is almost double what it was at that last auction. The medallion system goes back to the 1930s and was designed to keep the number of cabs limited to a sustainable amount.

Protectionism at it's finest.

[GeronL]

Yes it is. The supply is artificially restricted and this is the end result.