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Comment by hokkos | Hacker News Reader

Politics didn't make taxi medallion expensive, they gave it free, it's supply and demand that made them expensive[1]. Taxi are not useless, not everyone is able to use and app on his smartphone and some people want the simplicity to hail a cab. But the taxi license starts to decrease. Banning UberPOP is about consumer protection because VTC or taxis are professional that had an exam, special insurance, they pay there taxes, unlike UberPOP which is about transferring the costs on insecure workers and unsustainable jobs that don't take in account of all the costs of doing this job.

[1] : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_parisiens#Le_prix_de_la_l...

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Thanks, so apparently they limit the number of licenses causing those horrendous prices? In that case it seems to me they are still at the root of the problem and should fix it now that it has surfaced (paying back licenses that where purchased shortly before the VTC law for example).

If you ask me, we are way to focus on sustainable job in France. Unemployed people need to start somewhere. Which is far more easy if you are from the UK or the USA.

I think that paying back would a way to go out of this system. But the loser will be the tax payer. When the state/politics decided to give licences for free (a long time ago) and then let the offer and the demand decide the price, they created a speculative bubble: every buyer expected to resell it for at least the same price or make a profit (often a big one). Now, if this market is opened to more actors, the lasts to buy will get a big debt out of their deal and may be in a bad position for the rest of their life.

For me the ones to blame are those politics who created this situation. Concerning the taxi drivers who made a big profit, why should they be blamed for a system the state has put in place? (well, I do for being so greedy and making the taxi a transportation for affluent people)

Note also that taxi drivers are well known for hidding parts of their revenues (proof or source: none). Because of that, taking the taxi is really the last resort for me.

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