3 ms·

I think you're getting the wrong idea about this. These Taxi companies (of which there are many in Boston, not one or two) want to sue precisely because they ha

by ghc 14y ago

I think you're getting the wrong idea about this. These Taxi companies (of which there are many in Boston, not one or two) want to sue precisely because they have something like a government-granted monopoly. The problem here is government intervention, not lack of it. Taxi medallions are worth about $500k in Boston because the city limits the number of taxis and has outlawed Taxi companies from other cities picking up passengers. How's that for lack of government intervention? If there was no government intervention here Uber would be free to do its thing. But thanks to the Boston government the taxi rates are high and there are never enough taxis to serve everyone.

jonknee 14y ago
> because the city limits the number of taxis and has outlawed Taxi companies from other cities picking up passengers. And why do you think that's the case?
- ghc 14y ago
  The same reason architects are forced to knock 10 stories off of every building constructed here. The Boston City government has no interest in overturning arcane zoning laws that force companies to provide it with concessions (or kickbacks) to get anything done. And this bad behavior is supported by myriad neighborhood groups from the wealthier areas of the city who want to preserve the city as a quaint little museum sitting on the front steps of their Beacon Hill and Back Bay brownstone mansions instead of letting the city grow. See: Shadow Laws.
  - jonknee 14y ago
    Do you think it's possible that the few major cab companies are also very much in favor of laws limiting cabs? Perhaps in favor enough to help keep certain people in office?
    - ghc 14y ago
      Of course the taxi companies want to protect the status quo. Imagine if you had to invest half a million dollars per employee so they could legally operate and then some company claims they don't need to abide by the same system. Nobody wants their investment devalued. But if you think these companies care about keeping Menino in office, you're mistaken. They engaged in a decades-long legal battle to increase the number of available medallions, the limits of which were set in the 1930s.
      - jonknee 14y ago
        Many of the people with medallions have not invested a half million dollars, they have just had them for a long time and have greatly profited by selling them off from time to time.
UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
Is it though? I mean Boston city aren't the one doing the suing here. It is the large private companies who are being beaten at their own game. Plus as other posters said elsewhere, a lot of private taxi companies actually intentionally push for rules which protect their market. So they're essentially buying off local politicians who then pass rules so smaller business cannot join in for "public safety" or similar.
- ghc 14y ago
  The government-granted "monopoly" here has forced medallion prices so high that of course the companies would sue to protect the investment their drivers make (which they subsidize). They're like a union in that sense. Each medallion is a huge investment because certain neighborhood groups have fought for decades to "preserve" Boston by never increasing the number of medallions. And yes, because of the investment it has become self-perpetuating, with taxi companies protecting their own interests by not being in favor of increasing the number of medallions either. No matter how you look at it, if there weren't medallion limits in the first place there would be healthy competition right now. There are many natural monopolies. Hackneyed carriages (their official name here) are not one of them.
- nawitus 14y ago
  Lobbying to pass off regulation is the ultimate form of capitalism.
  - apineda 14y ago
    That is crony-capitalism. Capitalism without government intervention/regulation = free market. Of course I will always advocate for private property protections etc. base protections.
  - sageikosa 14y ago
    Capitalism and interventionism are orthogonal in purpose, although interventionism discriminates against some capital enterprises and for other capital enterprises.
- 14y ago

by ghc 14y ago

jonknee 14y ago

> because the city limits the number of taxis and has outlawed Taxi companies from other cities picking up passengers. And why do you think that's the case?

ghc 14y ago
The same reason architects are forced to knock 10 stories off of every building constructed here. The Boston City government has no interest in overturning arcane zoning laws that force companies to provide it with concessions (or kickbacks) to get anything done. And this bad behavior is supported by myriad neighborhood groups from the wealthier areas of the city who want to preserve the city as a quaint little museum sitting on the front steps of their Beacon Hill and Back Bay brownstone mansions instead of letting the city grow. See: Shadow Laws.
- jonknee 14y ago
  Do you think it's possible that the few major cab companies are also very much in favor of laws limiting cabs? Perhaps in favor enough to help keep certain people in office?
  - ghc 14y ago
    Of course the taxi companies want to protect the status quo. Imagine if you had to invest half a million dollars per employee so they could legally operate and then some company claims they don't need to abide by the same system. Nobody wants their investment devalued. But if you think these companies care about keeping Menino in office, you're mistaken. They engaged in a decades-long legal battle to increase the number of available medallions, the limits of which were set in the 1930s.
    - jonknee 14y ago
      Many of the people with medallions have not invested a half million dollars, they have just had them for a long time and have greatly profited by selling them off from time to time.

UnoriginalGuy 14y ago

Is it though? I mean Boston city aren't the one doing the suing here. It is the large private companies who are being beaten at their own game. Plus as other posters said elsewhere, a lot of private taxi companies actually intentionally push for rules which protect their market. So they're essentially buying off local politicians who then pass rules so smaller business cannot join in for "public safety" or similar.

ghc 14y ago
The government-granted "monopoly" here has forced medallion prices so high that of course the companies would sue to protect the investment their drivers make (which they subsidize). They're like a union in that sense. Each medallion is a huge investment because certain neighborhood groups have fought for decades to "preserve" Boston by never increasing the number of medallions. And yes, because of the investment it has become self-perpetuating, with taxi companies protecting their own interests by not being in favor of increasing the number of medallions either. No matter how you look at it, if there weren't medallion limits in the first place there would be healthy competition right now. There are many natural monopolies. Hackneyed carriages (their official name here) are not one of them.
nawitus 14y ago
Lobbying to pass off regulation is the ultimate form of capitalism.
- apineda 14y ago
  That is crony-capitalism. Capitalism without government intervention/regulation = free market. Of course I will always advocate for private property protections etc. base protections.
- sageikosa 14y ago
  Capitalism and interventionism are orthogonal in purpose, although interventionism discriminates against some capital enterprises and for other capital enterprises.
14y ago