[BurningFrog]

The current regulatory structure (in reality) sets prices on behalf of the Taxi companies.

This is as predicted by Regulatory Capture theory, which is one of the most important concepts to know for anyone trying to understand society.

[hoopd]

This is a strange argument and I don't know how to take it. Uber's shown they're experts at lobbying and even steamrolling local governments to get what they want. If the current regulatory structure is corrupt the solution is to fix it, not let it be corrupted in a different direction that looks nice in the short-term.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-06-23/this-is-ho...

[BurningFrog]

Theory and experience says that it's somewhere between hard and impossible to fix it.

Regulatory agencies normally become controlled by the industries they are set to regulate. That's a fact that you need to be aware of when proposing regulatory solutions.

I'm not saying Uber is particularly good (or evil). Right now their lobbying disrupts some really bad systems. But I don't doubt they'll move on to getting their own regulatory commission once they're big enough. That's how our system works.

[hoopd]

I'm arguing that many small companies who have to organize and form a lobby will be far less efficient at regulatory capture than a well oiled monolith like Uber.

[Glastonbury]

I'm looking for an academic environment by which we could share thoughts and reference materials on regulatory capture. It is indeed an important concept to understand and one that needs more attention.

/r/regulatorycapture seems to be private yet might be such a place