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Research: Licensing Status Not Important to Consumers

There's an enormous difference. Licensing creates a cartel which restricts competition which in turn raises prices, lowers quality, and violates the rights of all people to earn a living doing whatever peaceful work they choose.
Certification lets the consumer decide who to hire, opens the market up to stiff competition, which in turn lowers prices and improves quality - just like it does in literally millions of other markets.



No, that is precisely why it exists. Milton Friedman studied licensing intensely, and he never found a single case where consumers wanted licensing. Instead, it is always the industry groups who lobby for licensing.



Here is a restaurant in one of the most highly regulated cities in the world:



Licensing protects the home owner or commercial property own.

It's not a cartel pards.
 
Very true.

But certain things will still require a city or county inspector verify to compliance. Gas-Elec-Load bearing-additions etc. etc.

It’s a good idea to get building permits and to have the work done inspected. I encourage my customers to do so and require them to sign waivers for any work not done to code at their specific request.
 
It’s a good idea to get building permits and to have the work done inspected. I encourage my customers to do so and require them to sign waivers for any work not done to code at their specific request.

I don't mess around when it comes to permitting and I won't do any work for any homeowner who say's they do want the hassle.
 
Licensing protects the home owner or commercial property own.

It's not a cartel pards.

Again, Milton Friedman studied occupational licensing schemes extensively, and he never found one single instance where licensing came about due to consumer demand - it is always lobbied for by the industry groups themselves. The purpose is to restrict entry into the trade which results in much less competition and higher profits for those who are licensed.

If you want to argue the spurious "safety" angle, then shouldn't all gun owners be licensed?
 
Again, Milton Friedman studied occupational licensing schemes extensively, and he never found one single instance where licensing came about due to consumer demand - it is always lobbied for by the industry groups themselves. The purpose is to restrict entry into the trade which results in much less competition and higher profits for those who are licensed.

If you want to argue the spurious "safety" angle, then shouldn't all gun owners be licensed?

That is because the towns, cities, boroughs, counties and states have seen the devastation and death cause by "hacks" over the past century. Licensing boards were created by government to protect the consumer, and also give the consumer a some recourse when a contractors screws them over with dangerous/shoddy work. The state will pull a contractors license if he/she is a shady operator to prevent them from screwing over other customers.

It was never about restricting tradesmen....never!

Have you even looked at the subject material on a state Builders License study book? It's not rocket science pards. If you can't pass a licensing test....then you have no business being in the trade to begin with.
 
I don't mess around when it comes to permitting and I won't do any work for any homeowner who say's they do want the hassle.

It’s surprising that some fairly major work does not require permits. I built a double (24’ x 24’) carport and the county did not require any permits/inspection at all. Many customers don’t want to get building permits since it often results in a reassessment along with a property tax hike. I warn them that non-permitted additions/structures on the property may not be covered by their insurance.
 
It’s surprising that some fairly major work does not require permits. I built a double (24’ x 24’) carport and the county did not require any permits/inspection at all. Many customers don’t want to get building permits since it often results in a reassessment along with a property tax hike. I warn them that non-permitted additions/structures on the property may not be covered by their insurance.

Virginia Beach is a little more strict than that. I believe we are limited to 256 sq. ft without permitting..
 
Virginia Beach is a little more strict than that. I believe we are limited to 256 sq. ft without permitting..

It varies considerably by county and city. In some places it is limited to temporary (no brick, block or concrete foundation) structures up to 150 sq. ft. If a HOA is involved then I refuse to mess with the job.
 
First of all, people who are injured and bleeding shop for a ride to the hospital, as they try to avoid the local government-created ambulance monopolies:


Second, with a free market in healthcare, you would probably have a healthcare provider lined up before you needed one.

How do I know who is taking the 3 am shift? What if I had a major accident while driving criss country and it happened in a remote state?

And how do they know the medicines they are going to give me at 3 am are any good? The Over the counter drug market became deregulated and not monitored by the FDA. It turns out now that very few of them now have what they say they have in them, or do what the bottle says they do. You want the medicines they have to treat heart attacks and controlling blood pressure when someone is bleeding out to be the same?
 
Arguing against professional licensing is what I expect to hear from crackheads loitering at a convenience store. Maybe from someone sleeping on a couch in a trailer. I mean it doesn't get any lower.

And the OP is horrendously stupid. That dumbass mistake has been explained.
 
Arguing against professional licensing is what I expect to hear from crackheads loitering at a convenience store. Maybe from someone sleeping on a couch in a trailer. I mean it doesn't get any lower.

And the OP is horrendously stupid. That dumbass mistake has been explained.

I somewhat agree, but that depends on how reasonable the requirements (availability and costs) to obtain a ‘professional’ license are. If a license is granted based only on passing some relevant test (open to all and at a modest fee) then fine, but if the licenses are used (primarily) to limit the number of ‘professionals’ in a given field (e.g. only X number of active licenses are to be issued) then that is objectionable.
 
I somewhat agree, but that depends on how reasonable the requirements (availability and costs) to obtain a ‘professional’ license are. If a license is granted based only on passing some relevant test (open to all and at a modest fee) then fine, but if the licenses are used (primarily) to limit the number of ‘professionals’ in a given field (e.g. only X number of active licenses are to be issued) then that is objectionable.

1. I don't believe that exists and you have not provided an example.

2. The OP remains horrendously stupid. People don't care because they trust the system. It's a special kinda stupid to believe the results indicate a desire to do away with professional certification. Impossibly stupid.
 
Doing away with professional certifications is an inconceivably stupid step backwards for America. This is Russian Troll Factory material that has been picked up by Trumpers.
 
2. The OP remains horrendously stupid. People don't care because they trust the system. It's a special kinda stupid to believe the results indicate a desire to do away with professional certification. Impossibly stupid.

If they trusted the system to provide quality, then they would care about whether the person they hire is licensed - but they don't. From the article:

"Consumers tend to heavily value prices and online reputation, but not the licensing status of professionals when they're picking whom to hire," Larsen, an assistant professor of economics and faculty fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), said in an interview published on Phys.org. Larsen, Farronato, Fradkin, and Brynjolfsson's working paper, "Consumer Protection in an Online World: An Analysis of Occupational Licensing," was released by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

I don't see how it could be any clearer.
 
If they trusted the system to provide quality, then they would care about whether the person they hire is licensed - but they don't. From the article:



I don't see how it could be any clearer.

The article is bull crap.

Most homeowners I run into are pretty savvy about picking licensed contractors. I provide my license number and my limited liability insurance provider on the "Scope Of Work" Template.
 
One of our drivers, from the airport to the hotel in Copenhagen was an apprentice tradesman, a plumber, IIRC. He talked of the government regulations covering his trade. He explained that the refs were needed because if he did some work on the sixth floor of an apartment building, there were five floors of flats that could be affected by any mistakes that he might make.
 
I somewhat agree, but that depends on how reasonable the requirements (availability and costs) to obtain a ‘professional’ license are. If a license is granted based only on passing some relevant test (open to all and at a modest fee) then fine, but if the licenses are used (primarily) to limit the number of ‘professionals’ in a given field (e.g. only X number of active licenses are to be issued) then that is objectionable.
And I have yet to see where that happens except in the taxi industry. Ridesharing overcame that.
 
The point is that it should be my choice, not yours.
I can't tell you how many relatives and friends and friends of friends got screwed over by shoddy drive by contractors after Katrina hit Louisiana and after we had flooding in 2016.

If you hire an unlicensed contractor to do anything other than minor repairs you are gambling with your money.
 
And I have yet to see where that happens except in the taxi industry. Ridesharing overcame that.

This limitation is often accomplished by other means such as requiring those with a current license to ‘certify’ that those working for them are sufficiently ‘experienced’ to even apply for a license (aka compete with them on an equal footing).

To apply for a Master Electrician license, you must have held Journeyman Electrician license for at least two years. Note that Journeyman Industrial Electrician experience may not be used to qualify for a Master Electrician license.

You must also be able to show that you have completed 12,000 hours of on-the-job training under the supervision of a Master Electrician licensed in Texas.

You will need to contact and obtain verification from each Master Electrician who supervised you.


There is no reason to require about six years of in state ‘on the job’ experience (in addition to holding a lesser license for at least two of those years) other than to limit the number of people eligible to take the test to become licensed.
 
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