LairdPopkin t1_j9zl06s wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:56 PM

Reply to comment by EconomistPunter in For marginal occupations licensed by U.S. states, the welfare costs of licensing exceeds the benefits, as workers have to expend resources to obtain the license and consumers pay higher prices. [The study looks at professions that require license in some states but not others]. by smurfyjenkins

Since the entire point of licensing is to drive up quality, because there is a harm to incompetent practitioners in many areas, it feels to me like the study is intentionally constructed to be misleading.

EconomistPunter t1_j9znjxy wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:13 PM

And, unfortunately, the existence of unintended consequences to laws, as well as ineffective language, means that implementation often falls short of intention.

This is an important study.

Edit: your mindset would have derided follow up studies to Brown versus Board of Education, which almost uniformly found less than expected Black economic progress, because equal access did not imply equal resources. It’s a terrible mindset.