XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com   
      
   Greg Goss  wrote   
   > David Friedman  wrote   
   >> 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?   
      
   So those who have the medallion or the use of one get a decent income,   
   at least in theory.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)