The Harm of Occupational Licensing

I grant you that this AP story in the Post-Dispatch is a rather extreme example. I further grant that of all occupations requiring a license, I agree that doctors need them the most. All that being said, the referenced story of institutional racism is a good example of the problems that can occur when you empower current practitioners of an occupation to decide who else gets to make a living in that occupation. For a more recent example of the abuses that can occur when businesses and unions decide to keep competition out under the guise of “safety,” you only need to go back a few years to the mechanical code disputes in St. Louis County.

Most of all, though, this story gives me a nice segue to my recent op-ed about the consideration of contractor licensing in St. Joseph. The piece was carried by the St. Joseph News-Press last week, which we greatly appreciate — but they didn’t put in online, so you’ll just have to trust me on that. …