[humanrebar]

There's one data point. One with many special conditions. Calling this a failure of Free Enterprise is to ignore the conditions you are describing -- people weren't free! Violence, other strong-arm tactics, and lack of liability are the opposite of freedom. Of course Free Enterprise doesn't work when basic rights (life, liberty, property, speech, conscience) aren't protected.

And for a counter example, New York is very stingy with its medallions, which has created powerful special interest groups, and a system that serves drivers and passengers poorly in many respects.

[msutherl]

"Freedom" has two different meanings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Concepts_of_Liberty

[humanrebar]

I'm not sure what your point is. A person being harmed due to law-and-order issues in her society lacks liberty under both meanings.

[andylei]

> a system that serves drivers and passengers poorly in many respects.

but also serves drivers and passengers pretty well in many other respects

[humanrebar]

It's my understanding that drivers don't have it so great. They generally work for the medallion owners instead of for themselves. They certainly can't experiment with their business model (pet-friendly cabs? credit card only cabs? setting the fare at pickup? multi-passenger, multi-destination schemes?).

On the passenger side of things, aside from the lack of innovation, getting a cab in certain neighborhoods is problematic. Cabbies profiling potential fares is still a problem, despite regulations. There are other availability issues as well, for example when the weather is bad or when you get "upstreamed" during peak commute times.