While all occupational licensing infringes on our freedom to produce and trade, the licensing of some professions has a degree of plausibility. We don’t want an auto mechanic to perform surgery on us. Absent occupational licensing, the argument goes, auto mechanics could offer to perform surgery, and nobody would be the wiser. This argument implies…
Of the many schemes perpetrated by government, one of the most insidious is occupational licensing. Occupational licensing requires individuals to obtain the government’s permission to produce and earn a living. Defenders of occupational licensing claim that it protects “the public” from incompetent and unscrupulous professionals. The truth is, occupational licensing does nothing to protect the…
In 2019, Mark Shirley left his job managing an auto dealership to pursue his dream of owning a restaurant. After doing research, he concluded that a food truck was the best way to start. Costs would be lower than a brick-and-mortar location and he could slowly build his clientele while working out the kinks every…
If we truly want to solve the affordable housing crisis, then we cannot look at each issue in isolation. We must consider the full context. The affordability of housing involves more than simply the cost of housing. It also includes an individual’s income. And, just as there are many restrictions on housing producers to build…
Many government policies are intended to protect the foolish, though few politicians or bureaucrats would admit as such. Instead, they tell us that their policies are promoting or protecting the “public interest.” In truth, there is no such as the “public interest.” There are only the interests of individuals, and individuals do not have monolithic…
Occupational licensing requires practitioners of certain professions to first obtain government approval in the form of a state license. An individual who deems himself competent to offer a service cannot do so unless has the government’s permission. Equally important, licensing prohibits individuals from hiring unlicensed individuals, even if they judge them to be competent. In…
Across the nation, more than 30 percent of the workforce requires the government’s permission to work in certain professions. From law to hair braiding, from medicine to plumbing, individuals aren’t free to create values and trade them with willing consumers. Instead, they must undergo useless and expensive training in order to get the state’s permission…
As of September 1, in the state of Texas anyone can offer plumbing services. As of that date, the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which regulated and licensed plumbers, will be flushed down the toilet. Individuals will no longer have to travel to Austin to take the licensing exam or wait eight months to…
Last year the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, sent a letter to novelist John Hart demanding thousands of dollars in back taxes. The city alleges that Hart needs a business license to write, and if he doesn’t pay up, they will seize his property, throw him in jail, or both. Interestingly, if Hart wrote magazine or…
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down a Tennessee law that requires an individual to be a resident of the state for two years before he can obtain a liquor license. This is a small victory for property rights. The right to property means the freedom to create, attain, use, keep, trade, and dispose of…
Gov. Gregg Abbott recently signed a bill that legalizes temporary lemonade stands–the kind that children operate to make a few dollars. Abbott called the bill a “commonsense law.” While this is true, it fails to address the fundamental issue. Why should children need the government’s permission to operate a lemonade stand? If a child wants…
One aspect of property rights that is often overlooked is the freedom to create material values. If we are not free to create material values–property–then the right to property does not exist. Human life requires material values. An individual who is not free to create the values that his life requires is denied the means…