The 'Build Back Better' Bill Will Spend a Lot of Money To Make Our Problems Worse
You can support pre-K education and affordable child care and worry about climate change while understanding that policymakers need to get out of the way.
Occupational Licensing
FTC Drills Alabama Licensing Board for Anti-Competitive Scheme Targeting Teledentistry
The FTC challenged a licensing scheme that it says limited consumer choice and excluded new providers.
My National Affairs Article on "Voting With Our Feet"
The article explains how expanding opportunities for foot voting can enhance political choice, help the poor and disadvantaged, and reduce the dangers of political polarization.
This Private Eye Was Denied a License Because He Criticized Police
Free speech and occupational licensing collide.
Once a Communist Backwater, Georgia Discovered the Benefits of Free Markets. Now It Risks Abandoning Them.
"Government should be very small. It should just regulate the minimum."
Kansas Wants This Experienced Eyebrow Entrepreneur To Get 1,000 More Hours of Training
Jigisha Modi can't hire her own mother-in-law—who has decades of eyebrow-threading experience—because of Kansas' occupational licensing rules. Now she's suing.
Unlicensed Dog Grooming Alarms Local News Reporter
Do we really need the state to step in over an unfortunate tragedy?
Joe Biden's Executive Order on 'Promoting Competition' Covers Everything From Farmers Markets to Net Neutrality
Plus: Treating social media platforms as common carriers, Norway criminalizes sneaky influencer editing, and more...
Wisconsin Votes To Exempt Hair Braiders From Occupational Licensing Law
A measure awaiting the governor's signature would make it easier for natural hair braiders in Wisconsin to work.
Somehow, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Is About Professional Licensing Requirements and EU Sanctions
A terrible movie about a bodyguard trying to regain an occupational certification.
Retired Engineer Offers Free Expert Testimony for Flood Victims. Licensing Officials Threaten Him With Criminal Charges.
Wayne Nutt worked as an engineer for decades. But because he's not licensed, North Carolina's engineering board says that he can't share his expertise in public.
In a Rush To Ban Vaccine Passports, Texas Is Violating Private Property Rights
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he stands for freedom. That doesn't apply to business owners.
Texas Will Revoke Licenses for Child Care Facilities That House Refugee Children
Plus: International Sex Workers' Day, vaccines and HIPAA, and more...
Minnesota Threatens To Fine This Engineer for Calling Himself an Engineer
Charles Marohn called himself an engineer in speeches and articles while his license was temporarily expired. The First Amendment protects his right to do that.
A Federal Paid Leave Program Would Be a Permanent Solution to a Temporary Problem
The calls to implement such a plan are based on incorrect assumptions and a passive media.
How Congress Could Cement State-Level Progress on Occupational Licensing Reform
The Restoring Board Immunity Act would give states yet another reason to rein in overzealous licensing authorities.
Small Cracks in the Restrictive Wall of Occupational Licensing Across the Nation
With depressing job reports, why not eliminate more laws that keep people from doing jobs they want to do and people want to pay them to do?
Biden Wants To Resurrect Obama-Era Occupational Licensing Plan for Tax Preparers
Like all licensing schemes, this one will raise prices for consumers, hurt entrepreneurs, and protect the interests of the big guys in the market.
North Carolina Board Threatens Private Drone Mapmakers Because They Aren't Licensed 'Surveyors'
Technological innovation makes gathering visual land data easier and cheaper—and threatens an industry’s status quo.
Some Jobs Are More Equal Than Others
All professions deserve the same constitutional protections that speech-heavy industries get.
We Should Keep Expanding Telehealth, Even After the Pandemic
Senators and state officials are proposing ways to sweep aside nonsensical regulations that place geographic limits on telehealth.
Pandemic-Slammed Small Businesses Require Regulatory Relief
Entrepreneurs discouraged by red tape even before COVID-19 need officials to leave them alone.
Therapist Elizabeth Brokamp Fights for the Right To See Patients Virtually
"I hope my case can start removing senseless boundaries to teletherapy," said Brokamp, who is suing in federal court on First Amendment grounds.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
Walter E. Williams, Free Market Scholar and Iconoclast, RIP
"I just do my own thing," said the George Mason University economist and author of The State Against Blacks.
Occupational Licensing Reform Is a Biden Policy We Can All Favor
Occupational licensing rules are more often arbitrary bureaucratic hurdles than they are protections for health or safety.
Florida Leads the Way on 2020 Occupational Licensing Reforms
House Bill 1193 loosened or abolished rules governing more than 30 different professions.
Neil Gorsuch on Expanding Access to Legal Services
In an op ed coauthored with former Colorado state supreme court justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, he outlines some ways to make legal services more affordable for the poor and lower middle class.
California's Inmate Firefighters May Soon Be Allowed To Continue Their Careers After Release
Harsh occupational license rules locked them out, except when they were locked up. A new bill just passed to change the rules.
Tennessee Court Snips High School Diploma Requirement From Barber Licensing
Tennessee's requirement that barbers have at least a high school education is "unconstitutional, unlawful, and unenforceable," ruled the state's Chancery Court.
Americans Are Growing Less Willing To Beg for Permission To Make a Living
Officials claim doing business is a revocable “privilege,” but many Americans see it as a right that they’ll exercise with or without licenses and permits.
Writer-Activist Hit With Licensing Complaint for Calling Himself an Engineer
Licensing laws can be weaponized to chill speech.
The Case for Replacing the Bar Exam With "Diploma Privilege"
The Covid pandemic strengthens the case for abolishing a requirement that should never have been imposed in the first place.
Sen. Josh Hawley Says He 'Took on an Asian Trafficking Ring' and 'Freed a Dozen Women in Sex Slavery.' That's Not True.
As a state attorney, the young GOP senator oversaw raids of more than a dozen massage parlors, but he didn’t secure a single sex trafficking conviction.
Pennsylvania Is the Latest State To Loosen Occupational Licensing Rules for Individuals With Criminal Records
Finding a steady job is the best way to keep a person from going back to prison or jail. These changes make a lot of sense.
Florida Just Passed the Most Sweeping Occupational Licensing Reform in History
The Occupational Freedom and Opportunity Act "will save thousands of Floridians both time and money for years to come," says Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Business Licensing Makes It Too Easy for Politicians To Punish People They Don't Like
Making a living is a right, not a privilege, and should be respected as such.
Lacking a State-Issued Degree Shouldn't Bar You From Pursuing Vocational Education
The Institute for Justice fights for the right to receive paid training as a farrier without a high school diploma or equivalent.
3 Libertarian Tips for the #DefundPolice Movement
Reducing law enforcement requires more than merely cutting and shifting a budget.
This Judge Is Wrong About Economic Liberty and the Constitution
A flawed argument for judicial passivity in cases of government regulation.
Another State Supreme Court Stands Up for Economic Liberty
Following Georgia's ruling in favor of a lactation consultant, Pennsylvania’s high court reviews another “unreasonable” occupational licensing scheme.
State Supreme Courts Stand Up for Economic Liberty While SCOTUS Falls Down on the Job
"We have long interpreted the Georgia Constitution as protecting a right to work in one's chosen profession free from unreasonable government interference."
Make Pandemic-Related Occupational License Reform Permanent
Pandemic patients get better care when medical professionals are free to work where they're needed. The same will undoubtedly be true of regular patients after COVID-19 has left our lives.
The Coronavirus Outbreak Is Exposing Government Follies on Many Levels
Most serious approaches to the crisis, however, are decidedly libertarian. They involve reducing regulations that keep industries from responding rapidly in an emergency situation.
L.A. Bureaucrats Shut Down Restaurants for Selling Groceries Without a Permit
"You cannot just decide you want to sell groceries," said Barbara Ferrer, the director of L.A. County Public Health.
Pregnant Moms Scared of COVID-19 in Hospitals Need More Home Birth Options
It's time to free midwives from excessive regulation and make room for more home births.
A Mississippi Woman Gave Diet Advice Without a License. The State Threatened To Throw Her in Jail.
Mississippi has a reputation for being one of the most obese states in the nation, as well as having one of America's highest incarceration rates. Neither will be improved by treating unlicensed dieticians like serious criminals.
Oregon Tried To Silence This Engineer's Red Light Camera Research. Now Experts Say He Was Right All Along.
Mats Järlström's research never would have seen the light of day if the Oregon Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying had its way.