When I studied econ at uni, NYC taxi medallions (along with NYSE stock exchange seats) were a classic example of monopoly-rents pricing in the curriculum. It's interesting to see that asset bubble entirely extinguished.<p>Because of the previously-reliable valuation of medalions, their cost, and the value to both investors and owner-operators in having medallions, taxi medalion debt relief has actually been a major issue in NYC, with bailouts offered. This from November:<p><a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/11/3/22762650/nyc-taxi-driver-medallion-debt-bailout-ends-hunger-strike" rel="nofollow">https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/11/3/22762650/nyc-taxi-driver-m...</a>
Any bailout should be paid for by a tax on ride sharing service. The government had granted the medallion owners a monopoly, and then refused to enforce that monopoly when the ride sharing services came into service. It would be like investing in a liquor license, and then a service came along which delivered bottles of wine to a party, but the delivery person drank a thimble full of wine, and now this delivery person was magically a guest at your party, bringing a bottle of wine to share. The “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog” app connects partiers with wine endowed friends, all for 20% less than traditional liquor stores, with free delivery.
See: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/20/new-york-yellow-cab-taxi-medallion-value-cost" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/20/new-york-yel...</a><p>Sad for the immigrant owners who purchased them
Seems a much better solution would be to let the drivers go bankrupt?<p>If it's possible for startups why not for cab drivers?<p>That hedge fund or whatever it is that owns them would suffer, but well I'm sure they had a good ride while the party lasted.
I don't know if I'm totally sad about this... I don't know how many female friends I've had get sexually assaulted or raped inside a taxi cab. They could never catch the taxi cab drivers because nobody memorizes the number of the cab they're in...it's happened inside an Uber/lift but they actually got the guy because of the app<p>I'm sure many cab drivers are very anti-rape but nobody seemed to have done anything to make the situation safer