National Coordinator of Students for Liberty France, Christophe Seltzer, appeared on the French national TV station BFMTV yesterday to defend free markets when it comes to transportation. In a panel discussion about Uber with a pro-taxi license left-wing pundit, Seltzer argued in favour of the deregulation of the taxi market:
“In reality, Uber has sort of a monopoly in this sector in France, the same way licensed taxi drivers do. So what you get is either a highly regulated industry when it comes to classic taxis, which prevents new actors to enter the market, or you get a large corporation such as Uber, which has the capacity to avoid taxes and to get around legislation. Uber also ends up benefiting from this system to keep competition, such as Heetch, out.”
In the trial against the transportation service Heetch, Students for Liberty France has already shown its free-market stance with articles on newspaper sites and social media activism. In their efforts to explain why deregulation would not only make competition fairer and reduce prices for consumers, but also give opportunities and flexibility to young people who are currently unemployed, the SFL team reminds us of the roots of French classical liberalism. Christophe Seltzer also quoted Frédéric Bastiat during his appearance on TV:
” ‘Slavery, restrictions and monopolies do not only find advocates in those who benefit from them, but also in those who suffer from them.’, is what Frédéric Bastiat wrote. These taxi drivers suffer from the current system. What do you tell young taxi drivers in Paris who are required to pay €250 000 for a license, all while seeing less and less customers? I want to get rid of this licensing system and to open up the market!”
Bill Wirtz is a Law student at Université de Lorraine in Nancy (Eastern France). After starting off in centrist politics in his home country Luxembourg, he changed his mind on the role of government and is now a Local Coordinator for European Students for Liberty and co-editor of ESFL’s blog. On his own blog (www.wirtzbill.wordpress.com), he blogs in four languages, and his articles have been published in three daily Luxembourgish newspapers, the Foundation for Economic Education, the Mises Institute, the Washington Examiner or Contrepoints.org.
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