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Hotel owners do not want competition. For a politician, it is easier to extract surplus from a limited number of hotel owners than from a large number of people

by nanis 8y ago

Hotel owners do not want competition. For a politician, it is easier to extract surplus from a limited number of hotel owners than from a large number of people renting their individual units. So, under the appropriate excuse, a law preventing competition is passed. The foundations of all this were established in the early 20th century in cases such as Nebbia v New York[1], Munn v Illinois[2] etc. For the record, I think these decisions, and the various laws passed by cities in an effort to protect hotel owners and taxi medallion owners and cable franchise owners etc are both horrible law and horrible economics. [1]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/291/502 https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/291/502 [2]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/94/113/ https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/94/113/

exogeny 8y ago
This is a pretty short-sighted view, in my opinion. Regulation also means working fire alarms, access for disabled persons, and a whole lot of other things that are far from guaranteed with unscrupulous building owners in a booming housing market. The right solution is in the middle somewhere, but it's insufficient to simply call this a case of regulatory oversight.
- dwild 8y ago
  I think you answered to the wrong comment. He never said all regulations were wrong, he said the monopolistic regulation around hotel and taxi are just made to protect hotel and taxi owners. He isn't talking about any other regulation from what I understands.
matchbok 8y ago
This his incredible inaccurate. Most opposition to the mini-hotel industry (AirBnb) is community oriented. The fact that these interests align with the hotel industry is irrelevant. Most of the profit AirBnb generates is from huge, commercial interests renting out 10+ rooms and entire houses. That strains supply and disrupts neighborhoods.
- nanis 8y ago
  > Most opposition to the mini-hotel industry (AirBnb) is community oriented. See, e.g., "Hotel Money Is Funding Anti-Airbnb Sting Operations"[1]. [1]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-12/hotel-money-is-funding-anti-airbnb-sting-operations https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-12/hotel-mon...

by nanis 8y ago

exogeny 8y ago

This is a pretty short-sighted view, in my opinion. Regulation also means working fire alarms, access for disabled persons, and a whole lot of other things that are far from guaranteed with unscrupulous building owners in a booming housing market. The right solution is in the middle somewhere, but it's insufficient to simply call this a case of regulatory oversight.

dwild 8y ago
I think you answered to the wrong comment. He never said all regulations were wrong, he said the monopolistic regulation around hotel and taxi are just made to protect hotel and taxi owners. He isn't talking about any other regulation from what I understands.

matchbok 8y ago

This his incredible inaccurate. Most opposition to the mini-hotel industry (AirBnb) is community oriented. The fact that these interests align with the hotel industry is irrelevant. Most of the profit AirBnb generates is from huge, commercial interests renting out 10+ rooms and entire houses. That strains supply and disrupts neighborhoods.

nanis 8y ago
> Most opposition to the mini-hotel industry (AirBnb) is community oriented. See, e.g., "Hotel Money Is Funding Anti-Airbnb Sting Operations"[1]. [1]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-12/hotel-money-is-funding-anti-airbnb-sting-operations https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-12/hotel-mon...