The FTC Asked, What Hard Data Exists on Occupational Licensing Harms? So IJ Gave Them Over 300 Pages Worth (For Starters)

The Institute for Justice has been fighting for the freedom to pursue an honest living since we opened our doors 26 years ago. In the last few years, rampant state occupational licensing laws have finally attracted bipartisan attention, too. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an “Economic Liberty Task Force” and has begun collecting information on unfair and anti-competitive occupational licensing laws. On November 7, the FTC will host a roundtable to address the state of empirical research on the scope and harms of occupational licensing. In advance of the roundtable, IJ submitted hundreds of pages of our own research on the subject, including IJ’s 2012 License to Work report, the most comprehensive study to date of state occupational licensing laws. IJ’s cutting-edge research on occupational licensing has exposed how it hurts consumers and entrepreneurs alike, from tourists and tour guides to homeowners and interior designers. You can read IJ’s comments to the FTC here.