The Free Market Saved Me From the UN

This past week I had the unfortunate experience of attending a business conference in NYC at the same time as a gathering of the UN goons. Like all government organizations, I usually do my best to studiously ignore them in the hope that they will return the favor (the former is marginally more successful than the latter). This time however, there was no possible way for me to ignore them.

It was truly a surreal sight to behold: every two-bit third-world dictator – accompanied by his preening, garishly-clad entourage – posing for photo opportunities all day at the premiere NYC hotels (no doubt their expenses paid for by our hard-earned tax dollars and easily-inflated money supply!), while the rest of us working stiffs rushed around roadblocks and security patrols, trying to go about our business in order to pay our own way, and to support our families, in addition to carrying on our backs the full weight of the “multitude of New Offices and swarms of Officers sent to harass our people and eat out of our substance.”

The UN delegates made it abundantly clear who exactly are the civil servants and who the masters:

Streets will be closed. Armored motorcades will glide by as commuters sit fuming in stationary traffic. Snipers on roof-tops will remind New Yorkers that they are a constant target.

Our Masters unveiled a very expensive propaganda effort:

The U.N. launched a big [$4mil] advertising campaign last week to persuade the people of New York that the summit would be worth it, with posters such as: “Everyone’s a delegate because the outcome affects us all.”

Seeing surprisingly clearly through the implied collectivist “we” in the above statement, the media for once cut through the Orwellian fog:

Local television channels urged New Yorkers not to take that too literally. “Avoid the area” was the main message.

Broken Windows Galore

U.N. officials say the organization’s presence contributes $3.2 billion to the economy of New York, but that has not stopped tensions over everything from unpaid parking tickets to plans for building a new headquarters.”

Of course, this ignores all the unseen effects on the NYC economy and the country as a whole, including but not limited to the taxes and inflation to pay for this meretricious event, the lost time and business due to traffic gridlock and enhanced “security” measures, and any lost freedoms that result from “breakthroughs” in the UN's political gridlock

The man on the street shows uncommon good sense when it comes to analyzing the Summit:

Jerry Niforatos, a Greek-born New Yorker who runs a diner frequented by U.N. staff on Manhattan’s East Side, said the increased security and warnings to the public to keep away meant business was not seeing much of a boon from the summit.

He was also skeptical about the value of the gathering.

“They’re going to talk and they’re going to go,” he said with a shrug. “Every year the same thing.”

Jimmy Konkowski, 34, a truck driver for a removal company, was making the most of the quiet before the storm.

“I think it’ll get worse tomorrow,” he said on Tuesday, adding that he was more concerned about rising gas prices than anything the politicians were discussing at the U.N.

“I have no idea what it’s about,” he said of the summit.

What, you may ask, bothered me most about the UN invasion of NYC while I was trying to conduct my business? Was it the blatant unconstitutionality of the entire affair? The jack-booted sniper thugs perched on the rooftops prepared to pick off American citizens in order to protect foreign and domestic tyrants? The rampant fraud and corruption? The long, drawn-out history of complete and utter failure on the part of the UN?

None of the above. For me, the most infuriating part by far was the wait for the taxi cabs. Like any gentleman – to use the term loosely – I pride myself on arriving at scheduled meetings on time, if not earlier – this is common courtesy. I allotted sufficient time to catch a cab and ride it to my destination, plus ample leeway – on a normal day. Unfortunately, this was not a normal day and I didn't allow for the UN effect. I could not for the life of me hail a taxi cab.

Don't get me wrong: I'm from Boston, and therefore I fully understand the practical supply/demand dynamics of the taxi guild. Believe me, I'm used to waiting for cabs. Boston is the third most expensive and arguably least efficient cab system in the nation, due entirely to our draconian municipal government's intrusions on the free market through the use of medallion rationing and other regulations designed to discourage competition.

Allow me to briefly recap how the chronically short-staffed taxi system works in Boston:

From 1930 until today, Boston has issued only 40 new taxi permits from the original ceiling of 1525 medallions. That occurred in 1992 to allow 40 handicapped accessible vehicles to operate. Applications for an additional 300 medallions were submitted nearly two years ago, but there are no plans to process new applications, according to an officer working in the hackney unit. Approximately 300 of the existing medallions are equally divided between two fleets – Checker and Town – with another 267 operating as Boston Cabs. Many of the remaining medallions are limited to operators under the Independent Taxi Owners Association. As a result of the restricted entry, countless qualified individuals have been denied the right to earn a living in a business ideally suited to entry-level entrepreneurs.

Boston is the same economically-savvy city that then tried to impose price ceilings on taxis during the DNC (for delegates only, of course!), due to the outrageously expensive cabs caused by government intervention in the first place!

At issue are the taxi vouchers the DNC wants to give to delegates arriving at Boston’s Logan Airport. Under the DNC’s proposal, taxi drivers would be required to accept the vouchers, worth $12 per passenger, in lieu of payment, even though the meter fare from Logan into the city, including tolls and an airport surcharge, is typically over $40. To add insult to injury, they’d then have to apply to the DNC to redeem the vouchers.

In the spirit of civic boosterism, the Massachusetts Port Authority magnanimously offered to waive their surcharge, although the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, known for making fire engines stop to pay tolls on the way to emergencies, declined to follow suit. So even with three passengers per cab, which the DNC’s voucher rules permit, the drivers would still be subsidizing the cost of the ride.

What the cabbies want to do is nothing more revolutionary than to charge the meter rate – something they do for every other convention that comes to town, from dentists’ to paleontologists’. Many have threatened to take the week off. Some are even talking about filing a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, on the grounds that the voucher scheme amounts to a coerced contribution to the Democrats. In short, it’s been a PR nightmare for the party of the working stiff

As a market response to the transportation shortage caused by these incredibly obtuse regulations, the Boston market has spawned such entrepreneurial ventures as Boston Coach (apocryphally started out of frustration by the then-CEO of Fidelity Investments when he couldn't find a taxi to shuttle him to Logan Airport), Zipcar, and PlanetTran (for you environmentalists out there).

But this was NYC, not Boston. Despite artificial taxi supply constrains imposed by the NYC taxi guild system, I've never had to wait very long for a cab. High prices and surly service? To be sure. Boston-long waits? Hardly ever.

Thanks to the UN, however, I waited a full 30 minutes while attempting to hail down a taxi cab – and I still couldn't flag one down! This occurred before the UN summit had even convened, and on one of the busiest streets in NYC no less! Hundreds of cabs went by but they were all either “off duty” or filled with passengers on their way to more lucrative destinations such as the airport. The UN made an absolute and total mess of the streets and the cab system, much as they've done in every other area they've touched (a reverse Midas gift, if you will).

Permit me to again quote from the media:

Big summit challenge for New Yorkers: hail a cab

NEW YORK (Reuters) – As 150 world leaders gather at the United Nations to make the world a better place, New Yorkers have more mundane challenges on their minds – like hailing a cab and getting to work on time.

Traffic hell is expected to engulf New York this week when the U.N. World Summit and Fashion Week coincide in Manhattan.

“U.N. meet to be hell on wheels,” said a New York Post headline, warning of road closures and delays for the duration of the three-day, 60th anniversary summit that starts on Wednesday.

Could I have taken the socialistic subway system to avoid the traffic? Physically, of course – but mentally, no. I ride America's oldest collectivist mass transit system every day in Boston, and it's by far the low-light of my day (but that's another story for another time). Suffice it to say that I avoid the "collectivist tyranny" of mass transit wherever and whenever possible.

Finally, as I was about to give up, suppress a shudder and dolefully head down to the subway, a “gypsy cab” – an unlicensed, “black market” (aka free market) cabu2014came to a stop and I hopped in. The gypsy cab was a pristine, luxuriously-appointed black towncar, in stark contrast to the beaten-up, dirty, and smelly yellow cabs run by the taxi guild. 

The cab driver was a polite, hardworking immigrant-entrepreneur from Hong Kong (he spoke fluent English–how many cab drivers speak fluent English?). As he drove, he was happy to share his valuable first-hand insights into the Chinese economy (bottom line: even though China now seems increasingly capitalist, don’t trust the Chinese government; these are the same people who opened fire in Tiananmen!).

The best part? He charged me $2.00 – for the entire fare. The entire fare! I was thrilled to tip the driver 200%, and he was thrilled to accept it. Now, the few gypsy cabs I've flagged down in the past have typically been well aware of the pricing schedule of their government-sanctioned competitors and thus price accordingly, but this cab driver charged me below the minimum rate for his competitors!

Let's do a compare-contrast for the free-market v. the interventionist market, shall we?

If, by blind luck, I could have managed to flag down a yellow cab  (again, there were none available for hire, due to government-induced cab shortages and government-induced traffic gridlock), it would have cost me a $2.50 fixed cost just to get in the cab! Now, add in the government “surcharges” (read: tax) to discourage people like me from using cabs during peak hours (somewhere between $0.50 and $1.50, I'm still not exactly sure how the system works). All in, it would have been a $10 cab ride plus tip.

In conclusion: the free-market cab driver chauffeured me in luxury to my destination (I was only slightly late) for only $2.00. The government-sanctioned cabs were not available at any price. While, as an Austrian, I am of course well aware of the remarkable theoretical superiority of free individuals voluntarily exchanging with one another, it is not every day that I have the opportunity to compare side-by-side in practice the fruits of the free market versus those borne out of government interventionism. Another victory for the free market!

September 19, 2005