Excuse me Mr. Lawyer, but didn’t you know there’s an OVERCAPACITY of lawyers in this country? We only have 70% of all the lawyers on the planet trying to earn a living here. Why didn’t you go to a trade school and find real job skills? Oh, I know, getting your hands dirty from manual labor gives you an anxiety attack and causes you to hyperventilate. What a wuss.
There are fewer physicians in the US per person than in most OECD countries. In 2010, the U.S. had 2.4 practicing physicians per 1,000 people. The OECD average was 3.1. Obamacare or not, there won’t be a lot of doctors (and nurses) who need to sell cologne to pay the rent. (But that pathway requires a lot more effort and isn’t as pleasant as billing $350/hr for surfing the net.)
Certified electricians and plumbers make decent salaries and there's a demand for them ... unlike lawyers. Further, most skilled trades people don't enter their chosen field with large student loan debt issues biting at their heels.
We only have 70% of all the lawyers on the planet trying to earn a living here.
The US is in the middle of the pack for the number of legal service providers per capita. (For example, in Japan there are very few lawyers, but many people who are legally trained and provide legal services in companies. In other nations, notaries are legally educated and provide the kinds of services lawyers provide here).
Except for the ABA law school accreditation monopoly that makes law school needlessly expensive, and the state bar exam “hoop jumping” we have a relatively free market.
Anyone who disagrees can explain how we have “too many lawyers” and “lawyers are overpaid” at the same time.
Incidentally, this topic has been around cyclically for generations.