Rolling Back Occupational Licensing: New at Reason

Has the U.S. reached peak occupational licensing?

J.D. Tuccille writes:

In the age of seemingly intractable political disagreements, a Democratic White House agrees with Arizona’s Republican governor that occupational licensing is a profoundly bad idea that does enormous damage to economic opportunity and household budgets. Is this (don’t say it too loudly) evidence of a bipartisan breakthrough?

Maybe so. At a February Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, both Democratic and Republican senators expressed shock at the high costs and lost opportunities inflicted on the country by licensing laws.

Arizona lawmakers aren’t alone in acting to undo some of the economic damage they and their predecessors have inflicted on their constituents. North Carolina legislators are similarly considering efforts to strip licensing requirements from barbers, librarians, locksmiths and myriad other occupations currently regulated by the state.

Kentucky’s governor has been sent a bill eliminating licensing requirements for hair-braiders. That follows in the steps of Nebraska, which already adopted a similar measure.

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