2 ms·

It's how the medallion system works, you prepay for the right to work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City#Medallions https://en.wikipedia.

It's how the medallion system works, you prepay for the right to work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City#Medallions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City#Meda...

enraged_camel 9y ago
That's true, but that doesn't make it indentured servitude, or even close to it. Medallions exist to keep the supply of taxis limited. It ensures cab drivers have a certain standard of living. They can also be sold, so if the driver is retiring or wants to change to another career, they can do that. It's not a perfect system but it strikes a decent balance between worker protection and limiting externalities (e.g. by making sure not everyone decides to become a cab driver and clog up roads). edit: I guess Uber shills are out in force today.
- fragmede 9y ago
  > It's not a perfect system I mean, slavery could also be described as "not a perfect system". Medallions in NYC had wholly undergone regulatory capture, so while the system may have started with good intentions, it had since been perverted into a self-perpetuating machine that prints money for a couple of lazy fat cats, to the detriment of everyone else.
  - enraged_camel 9y ago
    >>I mean, slavery could also be described as "not a perfect system". Medallion system is nothing like slavery. False equivalence. >>it had since been perverted into a self-perpetuating machine that prints money for a couple of lazy fat cats, to the detriment of everyone else. The medallion system benefits citizens because it ensures that taxis don't dominate city streets at the expense of regular car owners.
- sctb 9y ago
  Could you please stop violating the guidelines, which ask you not to complain about voting or insinuate shillage? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
sjg007 9y ago
So do strippers? And hairstylists? It's rent?
- cableshaft 9y ago
  My understanding of those professions (strippers, hairstylists, etc) is they pay the business they work at up front for the night (or maybe week or month) and are expecting to make their money back and then some by the end of that short period of time. Taxi Medallions are different, especially in large cities. They can cost $300,000 to $1,000,000+, upfront. Most taxi cab drivers have to take out a loan or lease the medallions in order to pay for it, and then they're beholden to the loaner for a long, long time. This is why taxi cab drivers HATED when Uber starting taking away their business and didn't just shrug their shoulders, buy a black car, and join Uber. They are pretty much stuck and can't easily get out of it. That's completely different than these other professions where if something isn't working out, you can switch which place you go to or try something else next week or next month.
  - sjg007 9y ago
    Most cab drivers lease the medallion from the medallion holder typically (including the car).. so it's the same. The medallion holder has no incentive to drive if they can rent out the right to drive. That was the game until uber. Uber could and probably will just buy all the medallions. Or if not necessary the medallions will just be effectively worthless.
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  I'd put licensing fees for hairstylists in the same category, but it is the large price of medallions (hundreds of thousands to over a million dollars), and the long term commitment that creates that draws the analogy to indentured servitude. Along with the fact that medallions are government mandated and controlled. At least a hairdresser trying to rent a chair might have options to find other places, or even open their own shop.

enraged_camel 9y ago

That's true, but that doesn't make it indentured servitude, or even close to it. Medallions exist to keep the supply of taxis limited. It ensures cab drivers have a certain standard of living. They can also be sold, so if the driver is retiring or wants to change to another career, they can do that. It's not a perfect system but it strikes a decent balance between worker protection and limiting externalities (e.g. by making sure not everyone decides to become a cab driver and clog up roads). edit: I guess Uber shills are out in force today.

fragmede 9y ago
> It's not a perfect system I mean, slavery could also be described as "not a perfect system". Medallions in NYC had wholly undergone regulatory capture, so while the system may have started with good intentions, it had since been perverted into a self-perpetuating machine that prints money for a couple of lazy fat cats, to the detriment of everyone else.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  >>I mean, slavery could also be described as "not a perfect system". Medallion system is nothing like slavery. False equivalence. >>it had since been perverted into a self-perpetuating machine that prints money for a couple of lazy fat cats, to the detriment of everyone else. The medallion system benefits citizens because it ensures that taxis don't dominate city streets at the expense of regular car owners.
sctb 9y ago
Could you please stop violating the guidelines, which ask you not to complain about voting or insinuate shillage? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

sjg007 9y ago

So do strippers? And hairstylists? It's rent?

cableshaft 9y ago
My understanding of those professions (strippers, hairstylists, etc) is they pay the business they work at up front for the night (or maybe week or month) and are expecting to make their money back and then some by the end of that short period of time. Taxi Medallions are different, especially in large cities. They can cost $300,000 to $1,000,000+, upfront. Most taxi cab drivers have to take out a loan or lease the medallions in order to pay for it, and then they're beholden to the loaner for a long, long time. This is why taxi cab drivers HATED when Uber starting taking away their business and didn't just shrug their shoulders, buy a black car, and join Uber. They are pretty much stuck and can't easily get out of it. That's completely different than these other professions where if something isn't working out, you can switch which place you go to or try something else next week or next month.
- sjg007 9y ago
  Most cab drivers lease the medallion from the medallion holder typically (including the car).. so it's the same. The medallion holder has no incentive to drive if they can rent out the right to drive. That was the game until uber. Uber could and probably will just buy all the medallions. Or if not necessary the medallions will just be effectively worthless.
WillPostForFood 9y ago
I'd put licensing fees for hairstylists in the same category, but it is the large price of medallions (hundreds of thousands to over a million dollars), and the long term commitment that creates that draws the analogy to indentured servitude. Along with the fact that medallions are government mandated and controlled. At least a hairdresser trying to rent a chair might have options to find other places, or even open their own shop.