A Great Example Of The Market At Work

It looks like food trucks – once the outlaws of the food industry, as we’ve seen here in North Carolina — are going mainstream. National food chains — and others — are taking to the road now that they’ve seen the popularity of the trucks with consumers. Some may frown at this development, but I don’t. I think it’s a great example of a dynamic free market, the power of competition, and the changes that occur when consumers make their likes and dislikes known. This is about the power of the individual to affect change and it’s really quite amazing. And just wait. The “outlaw” food trucks will likely make changes of their own in response to the mainstreaming. If only government would stay out of it.

Don’t tell that to Sizzler. Or to Applebee’s, Taco Bell, Red Robin, Jack in the Box or any of the other national restaurant chains aiming to crack the code of food truck culture. Even companies that aren’t in the business of slinging hash have begun including food trucks in their marketing plans. Last year, for example, the Gap deployed food trucks in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco as part of a two-month promotion for its 1969 apparel collection. And this past spring, NBC’s Today show commissioned a pair of food trucks to make its presence known at the annual SXSW festival.

More Than Six Dozen Overlapping Federal Welfare Programs

An absolutely stunning picture of America, where welfare is rampant.

Will Chapel Hill Appeal Judge’s Ruling On Its Anti-Free Market Towing Policy?

Yet more whining from people who park illegally in Chapel Hill and then have their vehicles towed, which costs them $150 to $250 to get them back. Last week the town’s attempt to put price controls and draconian regulations on towing services was struck down by Judge Orlando Hudson. 

The Town Council will now consider whether to appeal the judge’s ruling – it has 30 days, Stark said – or try revising its rules.

Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said the town looked at area towing fees when it raised the towing fee from $100 to $125. Charging $250 is “outrageous,” he said.

But he’s more concerned the judge’s ruling removes the town’s regulatory power and leaves pricing and other policies to the free market.

“It’s not a market scenario,” he said, because people getting towed are not buying anything. “It’s not selling widgets.”

I’d like to know what other services the mayor believes are not part of “a market scenario” and should simply be subject to a council vote to decide pricing and product/service specifications. That would be a fascinating list.