Want Jobs? Cut Local Regulations : It takes 700 hours of training to become a licensed manicurist in Alabama.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Only one in 20 workers needed the government's permission to pursue their chosen occupation in the 1950s, notes University of Minnesota Prof. Morris Kleiner. Today that figure is nearly one in three.

The Institute for Justice is examining the licensing requirements of 100 occupations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The occupations are those that pay less than the median income and are sufficiently established to be recognized by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What we have found paints a stupefying picture of irrational regulation with pernicious effects.


The breadth of jobs is remarkable. Travel and tourist guides, funeral attendants, home-entertainment installers, florists, makeup artists, even interpreters for the deaf are all regulated by various states. Want to work as an alarm installer? In 35 states, you will need to earn the government's permission. Are you skilled in handling animals? You will need more than that skill in the 20 states that require a license for animal training.

There's usually more to these licenses than filling out some paperwork and paying a small fee. Most come with government-dictated educational requirements, examinations, minimum age and grade levels, and other hurdles. Only three states (Florida, Nevada and Louisiana) and Washington, D.C. regulate interior designers, but the barriers to entry are astonishing. Governments demand enough educational and apprenticeship hours to keep newcomers out for almost 2,200 days. They must pass an exam created by the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications, an industry group, and pay fees totaling $364.

A cartel needs a barrier to entry. The only way you can get that is through licensing from government. It's time to return to "liberty of contract".