There are a lot of issues that divide friends and neighbors in the United States. Occupational licensing reform should not be one of them.
President Joe Biden’s recent executive order is a case in point. The order calls upon the Federal Trade Commission to issue new rules that eliminate occupational licensing restrictions that “unfairly limit worker mobility.” The Biden administration is only the latest to acknowledge the costs associated with occupational licensing. Both the previous Trump and Obama administrations took similar actions.
Occupational licensing laws are passed with good intentions by policymakers: trying to set minimum quality standards for professional services. But licensing has clearly spread over the years to professions where it is very hard to justify. Barbers and hair braiders are clear examples; there are better ways of regulating the market without onerous licensing.
It simply doesn’t make sense for state bureaucrats to decide what constitutes a good haircut.
Continue reading at The Washington Examiner.
Edward Timmons, PhD, is a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and a service associate professor of economics and director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He is regularly asked to provide expert testimony in state legislatures across the US on occupational licensing reform and the practice authority of nurse practitioners. His work is heavily cited by the popular press, and he has authored numerous articles for media publications.
Economics of Flourishing
There are a lot of issues that divide friends and neighbors in the United States. Occupational licensing reform should not be one of them.
President Joe Biden’s recent executive order is a case in point. The order calls upon the Federal Trade Commission to issue new rules that eliminate occupational licensing restrictions that “unfairly limit worker mobility.” The Biden administration is only the latest to acknowledge the costs associated with occupational licensing. Both the previous Trump and Obama administrations took similar actions.
Occupational licensing laws are passed with good intentions by policymakers: trying to set minimum quality standards for professional services. But licensing has clearly spread over the years to professions where it is very hard to justify. Barbers and hair braiders are clear examples; there are better ways of regulating the market without onerous licensing.
It simply doesn’t make sense for state bureaucrats to decide what constitutes a good haircut.
Continue reading at The Washington Examiner.
Edward Timmons
Edward Timmons, PhD, is a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and a service associate professor of economics and director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He is regularly asked to provide expert testimony in state legislatures across the US on occupational licensing reform and the practice authority of nurse practitioners. His work is heavily cited by the popular press, and he has authored numerous articles for media publications.
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