Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
View past Libertarian pings here
Stossel - tonight on FBN - 8 PM Eastern, 7 Central, 6 Mountain, 5 Pacific
Be there or beware.
Another example of the folly resulting from state licensing is in the appraisal profession. After the S&L debacle of the mid-80s, the government imposed state licenses, but the appraisers, who had achieved professional accreditation, found the public now believes the low-bar established by the state is the seal of quality. Wrong conclusion, IMHO.
How about the University of Haiti?
I like Stossel, and I agree that licensing requirements exist for many professions where they are not needed. But he is going way too far if he thinks lawyers and especially physicians should not be licensed.
Once again, this points out one of the the differences between Libertarians and Conservatives.
Licensing of lawyers and doctors is not overly burdensome on those professionals, and greatly increases the chances of their clients receiving competent service. It saves lives and keeps innocent people from going to prison or losing their property.
If anyone, with little or no training could simply hang a shingle and call themselves a doctor or lawyer, the result would be chaos, not more freedom.
I can appreciate the example but in the absence of licensing it would require citizens to do a lot of homework on every trademan or professional they employ. It would also make them “more” vulnerable to being scammed.
I am in a state licensed profession and although it is not a perfect system it allows individuals a means to easy authenticate their credentials and holds them accountable for malpractice.
I was in the profession who granted them to relatives and those who were “connected”. They used their vetting of education and experience requirements to restrain competition. They also did a poor job in disciplining members.
When state licensing came in it required testing, education and internship and was merit based. Discipline however has been inconsistent but no worse than it was before licensing.
I like Stossel but I hope he provides a balanced picture on this one.
I like the guy and he is right on so many economic issues that I write this in sorrow, not anger. Stupid move....and I predict he's not going to last long as a Fox regular if he's going bonkers and far afield from his economic analysis with bizarre commentaries on issues most folks consider amoral and detrimental to society.
Leni
My show tonight tonight asks, why do so many occupations need a license?
1) to limit competition in order to force higher charges.
2) to give government a cut of the resulting higher costs.
Way to go, Stossel! I hope that the government partnership monopolists don’t cut Fox sponsorship fees for that.
My daughter is having her wedding dress made for her, and the lady making it is a licensed seamstress. I had no idea there was such a thing- I am not sure if she was required to have a license or if she has one to be more professional. Just boggles my mind.
Today, July 21, 2009 Kansas declared war on the United States. At the direction of Attorney General Steve Six, the State of Kansas Supreme Court today did the equivalent of firing a shot at Fort Sumner, the first shot of the American Civil War. The sheriff deputies arrested David Martin Price for failing to appear in the state¹s highest court even though his case had been removed to federal court and is currently in appeal. David Price¹s notice of appeal suspended the decision of US District Court Judge Sam Crow and the Tenth Circuit US Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on Kansas Attorney General Steve Six¹s motion to dismiss the federal appeal. The State of Kansas Supreme Court has previously violated federal laws by moving the state proceeding faster than the federal court, but Kansas Attorney General Steve Six has not informed the Kansas Supreme Court that the US Supreme Court has recently ruled that this form of obstruction of justice is unlawful and does not stop the federal court¹s jurisdiction.David Martin Price¹s ³crime² was aiding the rural minister Rev. Eldon Ray who was being prosecuted for ordering rafters for his church without an architect¹s license. The State of Kansas Legislature was so horrified that the state¹s judicial branch and professional licensing enforcement could be misused by corrupt state officials that they passed the Eldon Ray law and left $8 Million dollars out of the Kansas Supreme Court¹s budget.
When Attorney General Steve Six and the State of Kansas Supreme Court continued to prosecute Rev. Ray and his administrative hearing advocate David Martin Price for the practice of law, despite the US Department of Justice briefings that the conduct violated Price¹s First Amendment Rights and Kansas state laws expressly providing for layperson advocates in administrative hearings, the legislature took out another 16 million dollars from the State of Kansas Supreme Court¹s budget.
It is safe to say that in no readers¹ lifetime has a state openly seceded from federal rule of law in violation of the US Constitution¹s Supremacy Clause giving the exercise of federal jurisdiction priority over state proceedings.
One of the reasons the software industry has been so spectacularly successful over the last thirty years is the total absence of government interference. Look for this to change soon, in this new recessionary environment with governments exceptionally hungry for new revenues.
The defense of this practice is the same as that forwarded after the Chile earthquake: government regulation makes us safer. And believe it or not, there are those on Free Republic who echoed that sentiment!
I know I sleep better at night knowing my wife isn’t having her nails done by an UNLICENSED manicurist (shudder).
Stossel ping for those who are interested. Tonight at 8 Eastern on FBN, repeating tomorrow and Saturday.
Stossel is a bit late on this.
We already have state, county and municipal licenses.
We already have medeval guild style limitations on businesses.
See the absurd liquor license quantity limits pushed by local governements. (only so many bars allowed)
then again, McCain Feingold is all about “licensed and approved” to provide political speech.
I want all licensing dropped completely. Anyone can do anything anytime for any reason anywhere. Anyhow.....
Licensing and credentialism in general is a huge impediment to economic activity. All it does is create armies of bureaucrats at state licensing boards, and make life easy for HR dweebs.
This thread is a perfect example of how Libertarians (big L) always manage to shoot themselves in the foot.
Florists, hair dressers, taxidermists, carpenters, auto mechanics, etc... Licenses for professions like these are little more than schemes to raise tax revenue for the government (and everyone knows it). Heck, most of the time the only “credentidals” you need to get a license in these professions is a properly filled out form and enough money to cover the fee.
Libertarians could gain a lot of support among the public by arguing this type of licenseing is oppresive and unneeded.
But noooooooooo!!!! They always have to go one step further (or should I say, one step too far) and start arguing we should also eliminate licensing for doctors, nurses, and lawyers.
It’s the revenue...