[Outrance]

I can appreciate the example but in the absence of licensing it would require citizens to do a lot of homework on every trademan or professional they employ. It would also make them “more” vulnerable to being scammed.

I am in a state licensed profession and although it is not a perfect system it allows individuals a means to easy authenticate their credentials and holds them accountable for malpractice.

I was in the profession who granted them to relatives and those who were “connected”. They used their vetting of education and experience requirements to restrain competition. They also did a poor job in disciplining members.

When state licensing came in it required testing, education and internship and was merit based. Discipline however has been inconsistent but no worse than it was before licensing.

I like Stossel but I hope he provides a balanced picture on this one.

[freedomfiter2]

I can appreciate the example but in the absence of licensing it would require citizens to do a lot of homework on every trademan or professional they employ.

Do you realize how easy it would be to do this with the web?

[coloradan]

I can appreciate the example but in the absence of licensing it would require citizens to do a lot of homework on every trademan or professional they employ.

The eBay and Amazon ratings, Snell-rated motorcycle helmets, and Underwriter's Laboratories certification of electronic devices are all examples of non-governmentally-approved ratings, that are trusted by consumers. There's also Consumer's Reports. One could imagine independent ratings firms, which rate products, but which, unlike Moody's, can have those ratings verified by simple means.

If you think government is the only possible solution, you're really part of the problem.

[familyop]

"I can appreciate the example but in the absence of licensing it would require citizens to do a lot of homework on every trademan or professional they employ. It would also make them “more” vulnerable to being scammed."

The most licensed, official and previously seemingly rich and influential ones are the ones now going to jail for defrauding their contractors and clients. Many of the rest of the licensed incompetents are going into foreclosures. Must be something to do with pride, immorality and ignoring consequences. It's too bad that they're running out of clandestine leverage on governments.

The high and mighty even stunk up their codes and manuals, for example, on hip roofs in favor of frivolous fees for so many local special interests and manufacturers of "green" materials. They are clueless about differences between needed support for long walls and short walls, needed hip beam strengths, and how far 40+ foot, thin steel bands can stretch. ...no clue as to how to properly size steel plates or machine bolts. ...no clue as to how to design FPS foundations, even though the big mommy Government published guides from long-tested building in extreme northern climates. In sassing the knowledge and experience of our dead forefathers, every error is a "strongback" to them, when they don't even know what a strongback was. They narrowed code requirements for off-grid energy components to suit certain manufacturers of "approved," red hot fire hazards designed in a tropical climate (where collectors aren't even needed).