Scary? C'mon, doc. There are plenty of services that do not require government licensing. They operate on the quality of their work and would lose business or get sued for fraud were they to provide a poor quality product. You do not need the government regulating every darn service out there. The private sector can do just as good a job. Take Underwriters Laboraties, for example.
I agree that there are many services that do not require (i.e. aren't mandated) regulation. However, many places do require some form of business liscence, more for property use planning and taxes than anything else. Hairdressers, restaurants and hot dog stands all need liscencing and/ior permitting, for example. That's why the level of regulation is much smaller for these enerprises. I hope you are not advocating that in the medical profession, where people's live are on the line, that free market principles should determine the level of professionalism? There are areas of business that require some level of regulation, especially where lives are at risk. No one regulates the quality of t-shirts from Wal-mart, but something like the drug industry is heavily regulated and rightfully so. So is the construction of the store itself, as well as the quality of the water coming out of the taps. There are areas where the free market is incapable of a high enough level of self regulation. These are areas where even one mistake is life threatening.