Taxis

Air travelers are often perplexed when they pay almost as much (or even more!) for ground transportation (taxi, parking, car rental, etc.) at the two ends of the trip than for the air fare.

We all know that air travel is less regulated than the ground transport that services airports. Once again, it is not just another inefficiency but also a resource transfer to connected suppliers and their political co-conspirators. Rent-seeking and rent-extraction associated with ground transportation survived the deregulation of the 1970s and 1980s.

The latest Econ Journal Watch, includes "Do Economists Reach A Conclusion on Taxi Regulation?" by Adrian Moore and Ted Balaker. Most economists who have published on the matter favor deregulation.

Well, it's a start.