There is a lot more transparency with Uber, however if they achieve a near total monopoly on transportation such as Google did for search, the end result from a consumer experience standpoint may end up the same, with different trade offs.
The alternate issue, the employees/drivers, won't matter in the long run because there won't be drivers whether it was Uber or medallion holders.
thats a ludicrous reductionism as to what "publicly traded" company actually means and it discredits the rest of otherwise reasonable argument to say this.
No, if Uber is ever nationalized, then the owner will be society.
If Uber merely goes public, then the owners will still be the stockholders, its just that it will be easier to trade in the stock.
You mean those in society with disposable income to invest (or a 401K). That's not quite the same as "society".
> The medallion owners largely were individuals who had the access to credit and leveraged in as the values rose.
Sure, they were small-business entrepreneurs. As I said, they are Swearengen to Uber's Hearst, but their immigrant employees certainly benefit from the regulation, too.
> The alternate issue, the employees/drivers, won't matter in the long run because there won't be drivers whether it was Uber or medallion holders.
Perhaps, but there will be other similar issues.
If you've seen the HBO series Deadwood (a masterpiece, BTW), I'd say we're replacing an Al Swearengen with a George Hearst. Both may be villains, but the scale makes all the difference...