A question for both hobbyists and providers...

But first a story:
I've traveled to Europe for work a bunch of times.  One time when I was in Zurich (Switzerland), my business colleague was telling me about where the best restaurants, tourist stuff, etc. was during my stay there.  He then told me exactly who the best PROVIDERS are in the city and where to find them.  A lit bit taken aback, I asked him does he share this with everyone?  He said of course, they are much more open in Europe about it, but that it's a legal and highly regulated/highly taxed system.

So my question to all the hobbyists and providers is, which of the following would you really prefer if we could choose:

(A) Chicago system, where everything is UTR and law enforcement issues are about being caught, but # of hobbyists is more and costs are lower

(B) Zurich system, where everything is open, there's no law enforcement issues to worry about, but everything is 30-50 percent more expensive because of taxes and regulations (so that there are only high paying richer hobbyists)

I'm curious to hear what people really think.

some of this is not about LE nor regulatory implications. It's about discretion. Our society is different, and certainly for many hobbyists, their personal lives are separate from this and many would like to keep it that way. I too traveled for work there and I thought the costs were crazy, so I simply enjoyed the sites, ate really good food, and waiting till I got back stateside for fun.

Of course legal is better... or more specifically, remove the 'illegality'...  The government (yes, small 'g') needs to let people be... people.   Let people have personal responsibility.

But I have never been a big fan of 'legalization for taxing'...   That is just government trying to justify it's own existence: You are now allowed to do something because 'we' say you can - for a fee.  

Huh?  I thought this was America, you know, that place where 'We the People' tell the government what IT can and CANNOT do.   But that is a whole other discussion.  

I am sure we all know, once something is taxed, it becomes more expensive.   So I am not sure the point of your question.  

You make a great point.  The most "free market" approach would be to remove the illegality and allow the market (without regulation/taxes) to drive supply & demand and pricing.

My question is, in part, about which "extreme" is perceived worse - UTR free market vs. above-board regulation.  It's a freakonomics kind of question, i guess.

Nope, I really did get you question... Sorry for my response taking a tangent

I was just a bit heated up after reading ChiAndrea's recent Escort Blog post...

Sorry.. cannot explain why I did not provide the link...

Here it is:

Expense is more in line with Chicago/US and legal as in Zurich. I was introduced to a couple of real sexy German girls in Cologne and Duesseldorf. The German girls do go a bit higher or want multi-hour dates, but you can get hooked up very well with an Eastern European girl for $3-400 US.