Michigan Requires More Training for Makeup Artists Than Car Mechanics
And that's just one of many oddities in the state's licensing laws.
Policy
Los Angeles Spends More Than a Decade Trying to Turn a Vacant Lot Into 'Transit-Oriented Development'
There are no angels in this long-running turf war.
Displaced by Hurricane Maria, Fully Trained Massage Therapists Can't Work Because They Lack Licenses
Blocked from jobs because they lack occupational licenses, they're turning to welfare instead.
Affordable Housing Proponents Critical of Permit Streamlining Law Use Permit Streamlining Law to Build Critical Affordable Housing
A flawed law has nonetheless improved San Francisco's absurd building approval process.
Worried About Economic Inequality? Get Rid of Occupational Licensing
State licensing laws for low-income professions limit access to jobs and restrict mobility for those who have them. That's a recipe for economic inequality.
Libertarian State Senator Wants to Make it Easier for People With Criminal Records (And Everyone Else) to Work
Laura Ebke's attempt to rationalize Nebraska's occupational licensing laws gets praised in The Wall Street Journal.
Liberals Finally Find Some Media Bias They Dislike
The freakout over the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
5 Things Everyone's Getting Wrong About Sinclair Broadcast Group
The company that brought you that wince-inducing "fake news" promo is not a "monopoly," and cracking down on it will not defend the free press.
Stossel: Little Pink House
The story of how the government can take your home against your will.
California's Housing Reform Bill Is a Hot Mess. It Would Be Great If It Passed.
SB 827 is a progressive-backed mix of climate change goals and tenant protections. It is also a major free market reform.
City of Dallas Sues Nightclub Over Mural Honoring Fallen Officers
The tribute to five slain officers is allegedly a code violation.
Justice John Paul Stevens Is Wrong About the Second Amendment, Again
The retired justice wants to claw back parts of the Bill of Rights.
Reason Readers and Ajit Pai Helped Memphis Barber Pay His Absurd Licensing Fine
But sadly Elias Zarate is no closer to being a barber, because he still doesn't have a high school diploma. And, yes, that matters for some reason.
Trump's Tariffs Will Make Housing More Unaffordable
Steel tariffs are likely to make prices rise further, particularly in markets where housing demand is already outpacing supply.
Louisiana Is the Only State to License Florists. Gov. Edwards Says It Should Stop.
Justice for Sandy Meadows.
New Orleans Threatens Man with Jail for Mural Replicating Trump's Crass 'Grab Them by the Pussy' Comments
ACLU steps in to fight zoning regulations that appear to let officials veto art based on content.
Fearful Frenzy in a World of Unlikely Doom
These days, death lurks behind gas pumps, inside water bottles, and under throw pillows.
Concerns Over Historic Sidewalks, Endangered Garter Snakes Hold Up Construction of San Francisco Home
Troy Kashanipour's experience trying to erect a code-compliant home on his own property shows how stacked San Francisco's approval process is against builders.
Indiana Allows Sunday Alcohol Sales, Keeps Cold Beer Laws on Books
Prohibition isn't totally defeated yet.
Philip Payton Jr.: The Crusading Capitalist Who Outwitted New York's Racist Landlords
Best known as the "father of Harlem," he was guided by the theory that free markets penalize bigotry.
The U.S. Cattlemen's Association Has a Beef with Lab-Grown Meat
"Meat is meat, not a science project."
Shocker! Rent Control Makes Housing Scarcer and More Expensive
San Francisco rent control reduced affected rental housing by 15 percent while boosting citywide rents by 5 percent.
Cancer Survivor Fined $2,260 for Providing Rides to Hospital Patients
Hospital describes her services as "invaluable."
Massachusetts Salon Owner Says He Wants to Hire More Workers. Licensing Is the Reason He Can't.
Even entry-level jobs that allow someone to test out the profession have to be filled by licensed professionals.
Even in Health Care, Immigrants Do Jobs Americans Won't
If we want to solve the doctor shortage, we should import more foreign physicians.
Voting with Your Feet Does Not Lead to Segregation
Recent evidence suggests it actually reduces it.
San Francisco Man Has Spent 4 Years and $1 Million Trying to Get Approval to Turn His Own Laundromat Into an Apartment Building
Now the city wants the laundromat studied to see if it is a historic resource.
When Governments Suspend Their Own Rules
Special economic zones can be anything from tools of crony capitalism to seeds of a freer world order.
Tennessee Bill Would Make It Easier for Ex-Convicts to Get Jobs
Lawmakers are right to seek occupational licensing reform.
City Demands $6,000 from Woman over Illegal Chickens
A municipal scheme with a private prosecution firm leads to outrageous fines in the California desert.
San Francisco Fines Landlord $2 Million For Renting Out Dwellings to Low-Income Veterans that Violated Zoning Codes
Many of Judy Wu's tenants remain at risk of eviction.
What Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown Can Teach Us About Deregulation
As we prepare for a new "era of limits," Democrats may need to reclaim their party's forgotten history of rolling back government.
New Orleans Nixes Plan for Strict Cap on French Quarter Strip Clubs
"There is nothing inherent" to strip clubs "that causes crime," say city planners.
New Mexico Considers Forcing High-School Students into State-Approved Post-Graduation Plans
Want to go straight into the job market? No diploma for you.
Trump is no Deregulator on Immigration
My new Penn Regulatory Review article explains why widespread claims that Trump is a deregulator are undermined by his immigration policies, which include increases in regulation that outweigh reductions he may have achieved elsewhere.
The Feds Are Willing to Let More Medical Workers Treat Opioid Addicts. Now the States Need to Step Up and Allow It.
It's time we unleashed non-physicians to help opioid addicts.
Government-Approved Workouts? The Fight Against Fitness Licensing.
Crossfit is fighting to keep the government from regulating how Americans are taught to exercise. The health of the nation may be at stake.
Tennessee's Haircut Cops Bust Barbers Who Lack High School Diplomas
Elias Zarate found out the hard way that it's illegal to cut hair in Tennessee, and some other states, without having graduated from high school.
How To Make Health Care More Affordable
Virginia's new Democratic politicians have a chance, but it goes against their partisan instincts.
Florida Lawmakers Are Fast-Tracking Licensing Reforms
Florida House passes bill slashing licensing requirements for barbers, manicurists, hair-braiders, geologists, and boxing timekeepers.
The Corrupt Politics of Low-Income Housing
State officials gleefully line their own pockets at taxpayers' expense.
Cato Unbound Symposium on "The Captured Economy"
The symposium focuses on Brink Lindsey and Steve Teles' important new book describing how several forms of government regulation slow economic growth, increase inequality, and reduce opportunities for the poor.
How the Supreme Court Is Aiding and Abetting Occupational Licensing Abuse
Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. should be overruled.
New York City Unleashes Eminent Domain Abuse on Immigrant Dry Cleaners in East Harlem
Another day, another shady land grab scheme by New York officials.
