NYC Taxi Medallion Sells for Record $600,000

NEW YORK: The price of a New York taxi medallion reached a record $600,000. The previous record price Medallion financed was $550,000. Prices of corporate medallions have increased from $195,000 in 2001 to the record $600,000.

According to Andrew Murstein, president of Medallion Financial Corporation, the leading lender to the industry, "Taxi medallions have been one of, if not the single best investment to own over the years. While the Dow has gone up 8% per year over the last 50 years, taxi medallions have gone up almost double that, 14% per year. They have outperformed every major index including real estate, gold and other stock indexes."

Sure, it's a taxi cartel and entry is restricted, so wouldn't you expect better performance than the return on the stock of private companies, who generally operate without entry barriers?