By Bradley Berman — Lead Editor

In the U.S., there’s a mysterious, small metal plaque that’s affixed to the back of every registered taxi cab. That small piece of stamped metal issued by government agencies is known as a “taxi medallion”, and carries a price tag of at least $1 million. Medallions are required for taxis to operate legally in many American cities. This medallion system arbitrarily sets a cap on the number of cabs in a city, which suits the cartel of entrenched private companies that control the taxi trade. Unfortunately, this also created a shortage of cabs, left riders with poor service and few choices, and gave rise a decade ago to ride-hailing companies, such as Uber and Lyft.