Quote Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger View Post
Well I majored in business administration () and the fact that your oil comparison works is the problem. It implies that the product is a commodity that is similar enough across sources that the consumer cannot distinguish between those sources. If these businesses are producing a product and service mix that can be matched by a cart on the street then they are failing to justify their investment in the location. They should either differentiate their product to the point where it offers the consumer a value that the carts cannot match or drop the location and get a cart themselves. The brick and mortar locations and the carts should operate in symbiosis if they are both playing to their strengths. A storefront offers a merchant the opportunity to create a greater value for the consumer and thus charge a premium for that value. If they cannot create that value it is no one's fault but their own. Regulating away more efficient competing business models ultimately hurts consumers.
Mhm. I think I understand now. I will think about this, because I am still skeptical of a few things.

Quote Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit View Post
The food trucks pay taxes as well, and with those taxes have full rights to use public land. They are not subsidized.
As for this... Both the food carts and the brick and mortar store owners pay federal taxes. The cart owners don't pay property tax while the store owners 12 feet away do. That is more or less subsidization for the cart operating on public property.