States realizing it’s stupid to make it hard to earn a living

(From The Conservative Review)

Why does a florist need a government-issued license? Why does an interior decorator need one? As one article points out, why does a casket maker in Louisiana need a license, including onerous apprenticeship requirements, to construct and sell a pine box?

Of course, the answer is obvious. Licenses for these fields serve no appreciable public safety function. Their only purpose, aside from raking in cash for the government, is to restrict entry into occupations, so that those already engaged in the business face less competition from would-be rivals. Making it time-consuming and costly to become a florist, for example, benefits those people who already are florists, or those with the resources to easily comply with the requirements.

Incumbents benefit, but who loses? Well, all of us, really. You might think that licensing requirements create a guaranteed minimum standard of service, so that consumers are protected from incompetence, but I’m sure we’ve all dealt with plenty of businesses that hold the required certification and yet still fail to meet even the most basic standard of quality.

Click here for the article.

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/