Quote:
Originally Posted by Frequitude
Can anyone on either side of the debate provide a good answer to the following questions:
Why should the City not increase the number of taxi licenses by 1? 100? 1000?
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The main purpose regulatory regimes is to protect an incumbent monopoly/ oligopoly.
Limiting Taxi licenses was a way to fix prices by limiting supply, while also giving municipal politicians generous contributions and leverage over an important industry. Increasing the quota would have deleterious effects over the entire system of the politicians and the taxi industry colluding at the cost of the citizen.
The big problem with Uber isn't insurance or axe-murdering drivers requiring regulation, it is that it upsets the apple cart. It represents a loss of power to politicians and their entrenched allies/sugar daddies.
Rent-seekers HATE seeing disruptive technologies.