After decades of increasing barriers to entry for people looking for jobs or hoping to start businesses, occupational licensing reform is gaining traction. Reforms ease licensing rules, extend recognition to licenses issues elsewhere, and sometimes (not often enough) eliminate the requirement that people seek government permission to work. Evidence suggests that such reforms build prosperity, encourage entrepreneurship, and make it easier for people to move from place to place. But red tape still makes it difficult for people to find employment or strike out on their own, and the current economic crunch makes it more urgent than ever to sweep away these hurdles.
In Arizona, a new study finds that easing occupational licensing requirements is boosting the state's economy. It's long past time after years of increasing difficulty for people seeking work.
