Back in 2011 Centives reported that New York City taxi medallions were a better investment than both gold and shares. Oh how the times have changed. Josh Barro wrote:

• As a result of services such as Uber and Lyft prices for taxi medallions across the US have crashed.
• The average New York City medallion is down to just under $900k, 17% below its peak.
• Things are worse in Boston where prices have fallen 20%.
• And in Philadelphia the taxi authority was unable to sell any medallions at all.
• Taxi medallion owners face a death spiral. Services such as UberX are cheaper than cabs. Why, then, should taxi drivers pay to lease medallions if customers will actively avoid their cabs?

Read more here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution

The Taxi services of many major cities operate on a medallion system. Jeff Horwitz and Chris Cumming explored the (mostly negative) consequences of this in New York City:

• The medallions were first issued in the 1960s and their supply hasn’t increased by much. In fact, New York even went 60 years without issuing a new one.
• When the medallions were first issued they were worth 150 inflation adjusted dollars. Today buying one can cost as much as $1 million.
• Cab drivers start off their 12 hour shifts owing, on average, $130. This explains the bad service – they race around and refuse to go to far off locations because they have to work long hours just to break even.
• Cab fares have risen but the income of taxi drivers has fallen because of increasing medallion costs and fuel costs.
• The medallion owners have lobbied to end initiatives that could increase the number of cabs on the streets – including a plan to shift to hybrid taxis.

To read many more details, including how the medallion system fares in other cities, what the finance office in Washington DC had to say about implementing such a system in Washington, what the Mayor of New York has to say about it, the history of taxi drivers, the number of medallions in NYC, why taxis are cash cows, what the average pay for a cab driver is, how the medallion owners lobby to get a cut off fare hikes, and why this inertia is inherent to the medallion system, click here.

Source: Slate

High Point University has engaged in a daring new initiative to attract students by resembling a theme park and a corporate campus writes Carol Matlack. Highlights of the article include:

• Nido Qubein has led an attempted turnaround of High Point University by leveraging the university’s assets to invest in new infrastructure and thus hopefully buy credibility.
• Less than 10% of the universities in the United States are considered ‘medallion’ institutions. Qubein is not the first to try and buy his way into the club.
• However his method is unique. Rather than using the $700 million to attract top academic talent, Qubein is spending money to add luxuries to the campus in a bid to attract rich students – who can then pay for the luxury amenities.
• Features include schools with marble floors, first-run movie theaters, dorms with plasma-screen televisions and hot tubs.
• Qubein plans a total of $2.1 billion in campus improvements by 2020.
• The university that has now acquired a preppy image offers classes in dressing for job interviews and writing business letters.
• The campus is trying to discourage students from living off-campus by buying all of the off-campus apartments.
• High Point University’s annual operating budget is $77 million but it is estimated to add $418 million every year to the sleepy mill town in which it is located.
• The University has added new majors such as International Relations.
• To attract students High Point University offers scholarships – but only if students and parents visit the university first. The hope is that visitors will be so impressed that they’ll choose to go even if they don’t win the scholarships.

To read about the somewhat suspicious links between High Point University, and Qubein’s own business interests, how his salary has increased, what a tuition at the university looks like, why the success of the university might have come at the expense of black students, how academic standards may have slipped, why piercings and tattoos are discouraged, how flyers are banned, and why Qubein compares his students to Godiva chocolates, click here.

Edit: To read a rebuttal of some of these points please scroll down to the comments below.

Source: BusinessWeek

Via: Marginal Revolution