It's not the medallion system per se that seems neoliberal — I agree a state cap on taxi supply is not an obvious neoliberal cop. 1/

But once there was going to be a cap, making it cap-and-trade in a "free" market, indifferent to speculation or leasing arrangements, seems like a neoliberal approach to managing the cap (despite the kinds of pathologies that might and did emerge). 2/

Nevertheless, as a matter of history, the spiraling (then collapsing) market in NYC Taxi medallions seems to have been an unanticipated consequence of how the medallions were issued and defined, not any neoliberal economic design. The market that emerged surprised the system's initiators. /fin