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Occupational Licensing Blunts Competition and Boosts Inequality (economist.com)
Occupational licensing -- the practice of regulating who can do what jobs -- has been on the rise for decades. In 1950 one in 20 employed Americans required a licence to work. By 2017 that had risen to more than one in five. From a report: The trend partly reflects an economic shift towards service industries, in which licences are more common. But it has also been driven by a growing number of professions successfully lobbying state governments to make it harder to enter their industries. Most studies find that licensing requirements raise wages in a profession by around 10%, probably by making it harder for competitors to set up shop.
Lobbyists justify licences by claiming consumers need protection from unqualified providers. In many cases this is obviously a charade. Forty-one states license makeup artists, as if wielding concealer requires government oversight. Thirteen license bartending; in nine, those who wish to pull pints must first pass an exam. Such examples are popular among critics of licensing, because the threat from unlicensed staff in low-skilled jobs seems paltry. Yet they are not representative of the broader harm done by licensing, which affects crowds of more highly educated workers like Ms Varnam. Among those with only a high-school education, 13% are licensed. The figure for those with postgraduate degrees is 45%.
[...] One way of telling that many licences are superfluous is the sheer variance in the law across states. About 1,100 occupations are regulated in at least one state, but fewer than 60 are regulated in all 50, according to a report from 2015 by Barack Obama's White House. Yet a handful of high-earning professions are regulated everywhere. In particular, licences are more common in legal and health-care occupations than in any other.
Lobbyists justify licences by claiming consumers need protection from unqualified providers. In many cases this is obviously a charade. Forty-one states license makeup artists, as if wielding concealer requires government oversight. Thirteen license bartending; in nine, those who wish to pull pints must first pass an exam. Such examples are popular among critics of licensing, because the threat from unlicensed staff in low-skilled jobs seems paltry. Yet they are not representative of the broader harm done by licensing, which affects crowds of more highly educated workers like Ms Varnam. Among those with only a high-school education, 13% are licensed. The figure for those with postgraduate degrees is 45%.
[...] One way of telling that many licences are superfluous is the sheer variance in the law across states. About 1,100 occupations are regulated in at least one state, but fewer than 60 are regulated in all 50, according to a report from 2015 by Barack Obama's White House. Yet a handful of high-earning professions are regulated everywhere. In particular, licences are more common in legal and health-care occupations than in any other.
You want a capitalist free market, but only for other people.
I know a family doc who is the first one to admit that he is overqualified to do most of what he does - a nurse practitioner is more than capable to do most of what he does. He does some light surgery - wart and lipoma removal in addition to his practice. He's board with most of what he does. He likes family medicine is the answer he gave when asked why he didn't become a specialist.
But the physicians in this state of Georgia have lobbied heavily to keep NPs from doing the stuff that's boring to MDs without MD supervision all because of revenue.
And I know an NP who has had a doc wrongfully give her the wrong feedback about some drug dosages - so they need to spare the nonsense about patient safety.
AND many patients prefer NPs over docs for basic care.
So, get this:
Restricting NPs does nothing for patient care or safety.
Adds costs for no reason.
And as more docs go concierge, there are less for us little people - AND they restricted our access to affordable healthcare to preserve their ultra high incomes. Spare me the "they have all these student loans!" Uh, a year out of residency my buddy calls up the loan company, "How much to pay it off?"
"$194,000"
"OK. Check is on its way."
He wasn't stupid and didn't buy a Porsche, a big McMansion in a gated community and marry some hot chick who flunked out of beauty school who wanted to marry a doctor and spend $$$$ at Bloomingdales
Our medical system in the USA is the worst in the industrialized World.
There is a theory that most regulations and red tape are unnecessary - we should rely on common sense.
There's another which states that most regulations and red tape are there because common sense is actually quite rare and someone did something stupid.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
That engineer has to be able to prove their bridge will work over time for the use it was designed for, in the conditions it was built.
Giving away the word "engineer" to someone with no skills for "equality" reasons will not result in a bridge that works long term.
Nations need to have confidence in the bridges they use.
Need medical care? the doctor, any doctor in any hospital should have passed that nations medical exams and be under constant review and have their results look at.
A medical system needs to have confidence that any on duty doctor can do what they got a job for.
A rescue helicopter to get people to hospital that can fly day and night needs the crew to actually be able to fly in day and night conditions.
A person working on a production like and its electoral system needs to be able to show they have the skills to work on that system.
That "licence" tells the factory owner, the insurance company and all other workers the work done is to a nations standards and was correct and safe.
That any further work can build on existing quality work.
The electrical, water, gas networks have to be designed and installed to some standard so all surrounding homes are safe to some standard for many years.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Or rather, someone did something deliberate which was stupid - such as using a non-human-grade product because it was cheaper than the human-grade one and burned someones scalp off.
That's the main reason things tend to end up licensed - illegal behavior on the part of the unlicensed actor.
It keeps the equipment sanitary. I don't want my beer strained through the brewer's wife's old unwashed stockings.
In other words, because of the profit motive, people will take shortcuts and cheat at the expense of the consumer - even if it kills them.
The Libertarian fairy tale is that the Free Markets (all be Praised Hallelujah!) will take care of it. Folks will realize the bad behavior and not give them business anymore.
One, people are stupid. Read 5 star reviews on Amazon and you'll see folks are too nice. "I got the package! FIVE stars!!!"
Two, so I put road kill into your hot dogs - tainted with motor oil and other crap - but it tastes good and you don't notice.
A-Okay! Right?!
Sue?!? Really? DO you know that ALL dietary supplement companies are frauds? Thanks to Orin Hatch (R-Utah), the FDA has the burden of prrof if one of those worthless products don't work - and none do.
I can stuff a gelantin capsule with confectioners sugar and call it anything I want and charge $$$$$$, claim what I want (with a legalease disclaimer) and the FDA is the one that has to prove its bogus.
And thanks to the Republicans - ONLY the Republicans - the FDA doesn't have the money to do any enforecement on the fraudulent dietray supplement industry.
Thanks to Orin Hatch (R- retard of Utah-Moron kooks)
The Republicans have enabled fraud and poisoning by industry.
What guilds you ask? Way back when, anyone could claim to be a bread maker, or tanner, or brewer. At some point, due to various reasons, those who took pride in their work and felt their standard of excellence should be met by the shyster down the stall banded together and formed guilds.
Those guilds set minimum standards for quality such as no sawdust in bread or beer which wasn't watered down or had spices thrown in to cover up bad tastes or bad alcohol.
Fast forward to today and for somewhat similar reasons, professions want people to meet minimum standards of service. For example, the person who colors your hair should have some basic knowledge of how not to burn your skin or turn your hair into straw when applying the mixed chemicals.
Now I know what many of you are going to say. "I'm a programmer and I've never been involved in a guild or union or anything like them. Employers simply hire me."
Oh really? Those employers never asked what your qualifications were? Never asked how many years experience you had in python or Rust or whatever language they're looking for? They never asked to see examples of your work? Never quizzed you on your knowledge?
What they did is no different than what people being licensed go through. You have to meet some minimum standard set by the employer in the same manner someone has to meet the minimum standard to be a cosmetologist, an attorney or doctor.
To those who say, "Free markets!", what happens when your scalp is burned getting your hair colored? What if the person, somehow, gets the wash in your eyes and causes damage? Your response is most likely to get an attorney to sue them for damages. Question: how do you know that attorney is qualified to handle your case?
Likewise, prior to licensing, people were allowed to sell all manner of literal snake oil as medicine...
That's the general argument, yes. You can't get rid of a single legal requirement on anything, no matter how ridiculous it is, because then you'd repeal all legal requirements on everything.
No. You wouldn’t. You'd keep the few that you need and repeal the rest. And then see how it goes. And then add a couple back or repeal a couple more based on the results just like any other intelligent people would if they were trying to serve their society instead of themselves.
You're required to pass a test on how to recognize fake ids, determine if someone has had too much to drink and needs to be shut off, and what your legal responsibilities and liabilities are as a server. The permit cost is $8.99, and includes a video tutorial.
That seems pretty reasonable to me. It's not like they're testing you on whether you can mix a Martini.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Areas where tourism is a big industry obviously are going to want to license tour guides. Bad tour guides can give a destination a bad reputation or lead to tourists getting ripped off or mugged. Much like a hotel wants to maintain a level of service, tourist destinations do as well. Some places also have a healthy respect for their history and want to make sure it is accurately represented.
Carpenters frame houses. I've seen a badly framed house. I've seen a ceiling collapse due to poor carpentry. Why you think being able to build to code shouldn't require a test is beyond me.
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Which ones do you want to repeal, exactly?
I would pick 10 at random, challenge the licensing supporters to find or conduct a scientific study of whether they prevent a significant harm to the public, and repeal the ones that aren't proven necessary. Then repeat that every year.
Since licensing laws vary by state and locality, it should be simple to look at jurisdictions with no licensing requirement for a given profession and see all the harm to the public from unlicensed practitioners in those places. If there is no harm, or if the difference is not statistically significant, then the licensing requirement gets repealed. If that turns out to be a mistake after 3-4 years, reinstate the requirement.
Given the prevalence of autocorrect, it is no longer possible to distinguish a typo from choosing an incorrect but similar word.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
You're confusing two different concepts. Certifications aren't licences. In a field which requires a license you cannot legally work unless you have it. Whereas in IT I do not NEED an MCSE "license" in order to play minesweeper or solitaire; I'm just more likely to be hired by a pointy haired boss if I have the certification.