11 Reasons Unemployment Is So Freaking High
Former Reason intern Nick Sibilla has a great piece up at Buzzfeed. It's an annoying, GIF-filled tour on really stupid and unnecessary licensing laws on jobs such as eyebrow threading, guiding tours, floral arrangement, and tree trimming.
Do these occupations require training? Absolutely. But do they require massive licensing systems that serve only to limit the number of service providers to benefit existing businesses? No way.
As Sibilla notes,
Today, one out of every three Americans needs a license from the government before they can legally work. Back in the 1950s, it was only one out of every 20 workers.
He also links to a pretty great video on the topic from the Institute for Justice, the libertarian public-interest law firm that fights dumb licensing laws wherever they find them (and where Sibilla hangs his hat these days). Watch that now.
