Posted on 02/16/2017 2:14:42 PM PST by dynachrome
That's because there is none. Licenses, permits, et al are nothing more than the government taking your rights and selling them back to you in the form of permission.
You bet that the government would continue to force a monopoly.
You bet poorly.
You could say the government created monopoly of the taxi medallion system was a taking, too. It was just apportioned among all riders in the form of higher fares.
It is of a sort I guess, but from a legal standpoint, who specifically suffered demonstrable financial damage in order to make them whole? Can increased taxi fares directly resulting from the medallion system be demonstrated beyond doubt? Not sure it can be.
I’ve done my share of dumb financial things but even at my zaniest I would have never done what she did.
I agree it’s tough to apportion, and I usually agree with compensation for takings. But is compensation fair when the harmed class was the economic beneficiary of previous government coerced advantage which is subsequently undone?
Sounds a lot like bit coins, except its the government instead of an anonymous hacker.
It’s getting so complex and opaque at that point that I really would have a tough time saying one way or the other. People structure their investments based upon existing laws and regulations, and changing them to their disadvantage creating financial damage carries a cost that should be borne by those doing the changing, with that I strongly agree. Beyond that, it gets less and less clear, to me at least.
I owned Washington Mutual stock in 2008. It’s called risk. Derp
That’s sad.
I wonder in history what new tech has hit others hard.
The auto. I guess horse carriage makers went downhill :)
The train didn’t really replace anything except horrifying excursions across the country by horse and foot, I guess.
Airlines? I dont know. I guess they hit the cruise ship industry hard.
Article was intended for US readers.
She complains about paying for cancer treatment. She can get bulk bill medical effectively free (a popular option here in AU, so no out of pocket)
The medicine is probably on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, so just $36AUD ($25US per month)
Competition is a great thing
I appreciate your perspective. The taxi drivers bought medallions because that was the ONLY way to get a decent retirement in the taxi business.
Just like you go into plumbing (which I know is a harder job)
You get in as a slave and a apprentice and journeyman and pay all your dues and take your classes and pay your dues and pass your tests and do your continuing education so you can work.
Then after you invest in all the equipment and whatnot and advertise and build up your client base OH! The government says anyone can be a plumber. No tests no license no fees no investment if time...
Wait. YOU still have these requirements. It’s just that several hundred thousand others don’’t.
The government has 100% destroyed a lot of hard working cabbies. They were playing by some stringent rules. They still have to keep them but masses of others done.
That income will be tough to replace.
Agreed. A blue collar guy in his 40s driving a truck...that’s gonna be rough.
They have time to figure out what’s next, but what IS next?
I heard the driver less trucks will still need to have someone in them but that might have changed. Heard that a year ago but I think there are cabs out there without drivers or someone up front.
My gut tells me the problem for driverless vehicles will be navigating around the ones with drivers. I expect the long haul truckers will still be in the cab, but more as monitors. They will probably start by permitting continuous driving after around 9 pm all the way to around 5 am. With less traffic, the automation should be able to work smoothly. I don’t think current regulations permit more than 5 hours continuous and 8 hours in a day.
In NYC, the number of medallions was fixed at 11,787 in the 1930s until 1996, when a few were added so that there are now 13,287 in existence.
In 1937, a medallion cost $10. But, like pre-ban machine guns, the supply was fixed and the demand was elastic. If you didn’t have one, it was (and is) illegal to pick up passengers in the street.
So, the market price in 2005 was around $1.3 million. Cabbies had long since been priced out of the market, and la Cosa Nostra never really got into it, so most medallion cabs are owned by rich guys and leased to immigrants, who often end their shifts under water (owing the owner more than they made).
The NYC Yellow cab system is terrific (at least in Manhattan below 96th street), but with medallions now around $500K and plummeting, the industry is going to have to change.
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