Way to Go, Missouri!

I’ve complained in the past about Missouri’s system of occupational licensure, which requires manicurists, martial arts judges, and lots of other people to get permission from the state just to do their jobs. However, it turns out we’re not doing that badly compared with the rest of the nation. This report from Reason (linked by David Stokes in August) compares states by number of licensed job categories. With 41 licensed categories, Missouri has the fewest of all. (California, with 177, is the worst offender.)

I’m also happy to see that most of our categories seem almost sensible compared with the list of outrageous licenses on page 50 of the Reason report. We have no licenses for fortune tellers, reptile catchers, or turtle farmers. Although now that we have official state reptiles and invertebrates, we should be on the lookout for regulation of their catchers and farmers.