XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: gossg@gossg.org   
      
   David Friedman  wrote:   
      
   >In article ,   
   > Greg Goss  wrote:   
   >   
   >> The supply of taxis is artificially held   
   >> low to make the driver's pay a living wage, and to allow adequate   
   >> maintenance on the vehicles.   
   >   
   >I think you have it backwards. The medallion system holds down the   
   >number of cabs, hence holds down the demand for cab drivers, hence tends   
   >to lower their wage, not raise it.   
   >   
   >The medallion belongs to someone who has paid a very high price, in many   
   >cities I think well over a hundred thousand dollars, for it. The need to   
   >get a return on that investment is the wedge between the higher revenue   
   >resulting from the reduced number of cabs and the lower wage paid to cab   
   >drivers.   
      
   My wife's late second husband owned "half a licence" for cab driving   
   in Vancouver.  I'm not sure how that worked -- did he have to deliver   
   a token (a "medallion" in your phrasing) to the other driver when they   
   traded off?   
      
   If the drivers are not owner-operators, then why are we restricting   
   supply?   
   --   
   We are geeks.  Resistance is voltage over current.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)