From Wednesday’s Washington Post: “New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Service Commission voted Tuesday to set a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, marking the first time a government in the United States has imposed wage rules on ride-hailing companies.”

Concern for the downtrodden this is not.

Government-backed monopolies (is that redundant?) have always supported legal wage increases and price floors in every industry for hundreds of years. Why? Fear of low-wage competition. Competition that, in this case, seems to be doing it cheaper and better than the existing vendors.

This isn’t politics. This is science.

Nevermind the “unruly gig economy,” as described by one “executive director” in the article (apparently no actual economist was available for comment), this is thinly-veiled protectionism. Not of the worker, but of an inefficient industry.

Noting this and stepping away is reason number 5,747 why being a scientist is a million times better than being an activist politician.