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Re:2 Taxi Medallions Sell for $1 Million Each by A1kmm on Thursday October 20, 2011 @08:49PM (#3137803)
The problem with your argument is that you are conflating the artificial scarcity aspect of this type of regime with the public interest regulation side of things.

It is possible to regulate for safety (with criminal penalties for breach of regulation, or possibly a bond which can be forfeited to the city, although the latter creates a barrier to entry and probably isn't a good approach) without creating artificial scarcity.

Commercial zoning regulations are quite different, because they relate to land, which is a naturally scarce resource; the scarcity is not created artificially by the government to keep the supply down and prop up special interest groups by keeping competitors out of the market.

Re:2 Taxi Medallions Sell for $1 Million Each by tptacek on Thursday October 20, 2011 @09:33PM (#3137923)
Licenses and zoning permits are routinely structured to limit the number of certain kinds of businesses. The ostensible intent isn't to limit competition or protect incumbents, but that's obviously part of the ultimate impact.
Re:2 Taxi Medallions Sell for $1 Million Each by Retric on Thursday October 20, 2011 @09:25PM (#3137902)
In the US Commercial zoning regulations relate to far more than simple land scarcity. Public infrastructure, pollution, competition, and bribes all play roles in how zoning happens in the US.