And here's liberal pundit Jonathan Chait

Reader comment on: Two on Occupational Licensing

Submitted by Jerry Skurnik (United States), Sep 9, 2014 17:30

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/09/ferguson-worst-governments.html

Or consider occupational licensing. Some 29 percent of American workers need a state-issued license in order to legally do their job. In some professions, licensing is needed to protect consumers from quacks. In a great many of them, it serves little or no purpose other than to protect incumbents from competition. Plumbing, teeth-cleaning, hair-cutting, hypnosis, interior decorating, and many other skills cannot be legally sold on the market in parts of the country without a government qualifications test. These rules both make the services more expensive for consumers and close off avenues of potential economic advancement. Income inequality isn't just about low taxes for the rich and generous compensation for executives; it's also about the difficulty working-class Americans have getting a job as a barber or a dental hygienist.

These regulations don't exist because of a popular outcry from voters terrified that the person they hire to help them pick out new drapes may lack formal training for the job. They exist because they serve the narrow interests of tradesmen.

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