No One Should Need Government Permission to Work

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"There are a number of problems with occupational licensing.

Occupational licensing results in higher prices for services.

Occupational licensing often excludes otherwise qualified individuals who have a criminal record.

Occupational licensing limits competition.

Occupational licensing reduces employment opportunities for immigrants and minorities.

Occupational licensing stifles entrepreneurship.

Occupational licensing results in the misallocation of resources since it forces those who may have valuable experience and training in a particular field to do something else if they cannot meet the licensing requirements in their field.

Occupational licensing makes entry to a new field more difficult for those wishing to change jobs.

Occupational licensing is illogical since the occupations necessitating a license and the requirements to obtain a license vary widely from state to state.

Occupational licensing is irrational since it often doesn’t coincide with the public health, safety, and welfare risk that supposedly results from unlicensed practitioners.

Occupational licensing prevents licensed job-seekers from moving across state lines to seek better employment opportunities since there is little interstate reciprocity when it comes to such licenses."

Laurence M. Vance is a columnist and policy advisor for the Future of Freedom Foundation, an associated scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and a columnist, blogger, and book reviewer at LewRockwell.com. He is the author of Gun Control and the Second Amendment, The War on Drugs Is a War on Freedom, and War, Empire and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S. Foreign Policy. His newest books are Free Trade or Protectionism? and The Free Society. Visit his website: www.vancepublications.com. Send him e-mail