[adevine]

The whole medallion scheme just reeked of utter rent seeking. It was just a transfer of wealth from the poor (drivers) to the rich (medallion owners) for no reason. As you state, the city could still have restricted the number of drivers and cars though direct-to-driver licenses without the need for medallions.

[taneq]

I thought the original idea was to regulate the sketchy freelance taxis that existed beforehand. The current system of "expensive medallions owned by rich people who then hire poor people to drive the cars for a pittance" is just what happens once capitalism gets hold of a system with poorly thought-out, exploitable rules.

[ams6110]

There's a reason you see medallion systems mostly in large citys with cronyist political machine type governments.