Video: How removing one regulation created hundreds of jobs in Mississippi

Hotair ^ | 04/18/2014 | Mary Katharine Ham

[SeekAndFind]

So many businesses are just someone’s dream—to make an honest living, to serve the community something it’s missing, to use talents to their greatest potential. Every roadblock the government erects makes those dreams slightly less possible. And, those roadblocks aren’t tripping up the lavishly rich. In this case, an unnecessary regulation in Mississippi was keeping hundreds of working- and middle-class black women from making a living doing something their community wanted to pay them for— hairbraiding. One woman fought for seven years to change that. The result is pretty much the whole reason I believe what I believe.

I’ve known this story for a couple of years because I love the work the Institute for Justice does. I’m so glad Sean brought it to life. Take 30 minutes to sit down and watch it:

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

Laws of this type still exist in many states, keeping people from chasing the dream Melony fulfilled. Click here to find out how to get the word out about this film, and maybe fuel the fight outside of Mississippi.

[SeekAndFind]

Margaret Burden and Melony Armstrong.

The Institute for Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi challenging Mississippi’s cosmetology laws on behalf of Melony Armstrong, an experienced Tupelo braider who wishes to teach her trade, as well as Christina Griffin and Margaret Burden, two aspiring braiders who want to learn from Armstrong.

Prompted by IJ’s lawsuit, the state legislature exempted braiders from the cosmetology regulations. Braiders are now simply required to pay a $25 registration fee with the Board of Health, post basic health and sanitation guidelines at their places of business, and complete a self-test on that information. Now, entrepreneurs like Armstrong, Griffin and Burden are free to pursue their dreams in the occupation of their choice.

[Gaffer]

Instead of ‘regulations,’ one could make the same argument for any number of politicians.

[Gen.Blather]

Practically every regulation you can think of is designed to protect those now in “the” business against those who would like to start a business. But there are other bars to entry, including large business registration “fees” insurance and bond requirements and minimum wage laws. (To name but a few.)

I asked my mom, 97, how they’d survived the depression and virtually everything her dad had done is not possible or feasible now where I live. The state and local governments, wage, unemployment and insurance requirements make that type of wide-ranging get-what-work-there-is type effort impossible.

I made six calls to plumbers in the yellow pages. The first five were out of business. When business dropped off, the floor level of taxes and requirements destroyed them. They couldn’t just go into survival mode. They had to lay off and pay unemployment and maintain bonding and insurance and pay “fees.” So, all gone now.

[Sherman Logan]

In the book The Bell Curve, the authors describe how the complexity of requlations forces those of lower IQ out of being able to earn a living by running a small, otherwise simple business such as lawn care.

Much of regulation is a way of protecting high-IQ people from competition by those who aren't quite as smart.

One reasonable definition of intelligence is people who thrive on complexity.

[Gen.Blather]

“One reasonable definition of intelligence is people who thrive on complexity. “

Since befriending a green card holder I have discovered an entire underground economy. The problem with regular citizens using it is there are laws making us liable for anything they do to themselves or others. That’s the insurance “legitimate” businesses must labor under. You could lose everything. This limits the size those off-book businesses can grow to. And, their off-books business won’t translate to their new status if they go legitimate. Fixing a toilet, for example, is a $250 visit fee plus parts (suitably marked up) plus $x/hour. It can easily run $500. Most if not all their current clients can’t afford that as they too are living in the margins. I’d say my neighbor is surviving on WAY less than I used to pay in income taxes. When somebody hit her car she couldn’t pay the deductible to use her insurance to get it repaired. It came down to fixing the car or eating.

[ElkGroveDan]

Much of regulation is a way of protecting high-IQ people

You can talk about intelligence but please don't use the conventional self-serving "IQ" standard designed by people in academia to make other people in academia look smart. Some of the most successful self-made and "smartest" business people I know would score low on these "IQ" tests and I know of a several members of MENSA, or those who could qualify, who live meager, miserable lives.

[PoloSec]

I am a radical when it comes a free market place, I would like to 90% of regulations and laws eliminated, personal responsibility should prevail, Caveat Emptor!

The free market has a built in method of dividing the good from the bad, although there will always be...the fool and his money are soon separated, just as the poor will always be among us.

[Sherman Logan]

I agree. However, there is an even stronger correlation between “measured IQ” and the ability to deal successfully with complexity than with more general aspects of what we normally call “intelligence.”

I have never seen any documentation that people in academia routinely score higher on IQ tests than people in other professional fields. That IQ scores can be misused, and are not always definitive, does not change the fact that, properly administered, the tests do measure something very important.

Many, many studies over most of a century have repeatedly shown that IQ is more closely associated with success in life than any other single factor. Which is not to say that other factors are not also important.

[oh8eleven]

Christina Griffin and Margaret Burden, two aspiring braiders
Not to be confused with "aspiring rappers."

[Senator_Blutarski]

One reasonable definition of intelligence is people who thrive on complexity.

That brings up two points:

(1) Democrats understand their voting blocks and target them with simple slogans like "Bush lied" and "war on women". This is done for a reason.

(2) Democrat scandals are most often very complex and are not easily compressed into simple sound bites for the masses. Examples include the IRS scandal and the mess in Benghazi.

The Democrats know their base very well.

[Sherman Logan]

Actually, I contend that the scandals you mention are not inherently that complex. The complexity is added by their enablers in the media to confuse the issue.

If GW (or Romney) had been President when the IRS and Benghazi scandals broke, the MSM would have shown themselves superbly capable of simplifying them.

[Senator_Blutarski]

I agree regarding the role of the media in burying, distorting and obfuscating the Democrat scandals. But take the IRS scandal for example: To understand the scandal you need to have at least some idea what a 501(c)(4) organization is. That is beyond the comprehension of most of my liberal acquaintances.

[Sherman Logan]

Would like to point out that these two statements are not at all in conflict:

You - Some of the most successful self-made and “smartest” business people I know would score low on these “IQ” tests and I know of a several members of MENSA, or those who could qualify, who live meager, miserable lives.

Me - Many, many studies over most of a century have repeatedly shown that IQ is more closely associated with success in life than any other single factor.

[Little Pig]

Make friends with a plumber. A friend of mine had a master plumber as a neighbor in TX who was looking at cutbacks in work because he was focused on commercial real-estate. To put some extra cash in his pocket, he did a couple of jobs for my friend that the “yellow-pages” plumbers quoted out at over $1000, and he only charged a couple hundred. It’s a strategy I’m going to try to exploit as well.

[Gen.Blather]

There is a problem with every aspect of this. Government puts such a burden on business that they must spread that burden onto their customers. As the economy contracts fewer customers can afford the burden and the remaining amount must be spread on even fewer customers. Many of those will either do the job themselves or live with the problem. The business goes under.

People working for cash further increase the burden.

Now, do I blame anybody for getting their plumbing fixed for $150 instead of $550? No. But the problem is regulation. Not just one regulation or one government department but dozens of regulations and departments.

Now, spread this problem across all businesses and the impact to the economy is staggering.