Williams grew up in "Philadelphia’s Richard Allen housing projects, yet holds a bachelor's degree in economics from California State University, Los Angeles (1965) and a master's degree (1967). He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1972.
On Aug 2, 12:11 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Cruel LawsWalter E. Williams > What does it take to be able to own and operate a taxi and earn $30,000, > $40,000 or more a year? You need to purchase a usedcarand liability > insurance. Compared with other businesses, the startup cost to become a taxi > owner/operator is modest; that's until you have to come up with money for a > license. In May 2010, the price of a license, called a medallion, to own one > taxi in New York City sold for $603,000. As referenced in my recent book, > "Race and Economics," New York City is not alone. In Chicago, a taxi license > costs $56,000, Boston $285,000 and Philadelphia $75,000. It's not rocket > science to understand the effect of laws that produce these prices: They > discriminate against anyone getting into the taxi business who lacks tens and > hundreds of thousands of dollars or bank credit to be able to get a loan. > Suppose you're a trucker with an interstate license to ship goods but you > want to expand to shipping goods within your state. Is it fair for the > government to permit your competition to show up at your hearing, with their > attorneys, to protest that your services are not needed and therefore you are > denied what's called a "certificate of necessity," which would allow you to > ship goods within the state? Attorney Timothy Sandefur discusses this > despicable process in his recent article "CON Job," published by the Cato > Institute (summer 2011). "Certificate of necessity" monopolistic restrictions > exist across the country, governing a variety of industries, from moving > companies and taxicabs to hospitals and car lots. The intention and the > effect of these laws is toprotectincumbent practitioners from open market > competition, enabling them to charge higher prices as a means to higher > income. > Interior designing has almost no startup costs. Not so if you want to > practice in Florida. State law mandates that anyone who wants to practice > interior designing have six years ofeducationand experience, including > graduating from a state-approved interior design program and completing an > apprenticeship under a state-licensed interior designer. > Then the applicant must pass a state-mandated licensing exam. The sole > purpose of the law is to keep the outs out so the ins can charge monopoly > prices. > If interior designing is not for you, how about being a tour guide in > Philadelphia or Washington, D.C.? Neither city will permit you to be a tour > guide without a government-issued license. > In Phoenix, you could earn a living doing something as simple as shaping > eyebrows, a safe and common practice known as "eyebrow threading." To do so > legally, the Phoenix government requires you to take hundreds of hours of > irrelevant training and spend thousands of dollars on classes. None of those > classes actually teaches you how to practice eyebrow threading. > One would think that civil rights organizations, leftists and progressives > would be fighting the battle for people's rights to earn a living. The fact > ofbusinessis that they are often on the other side, and it's the Washington, > D.C.-based Institute for Justice that has been waging war against entrenched > incumbents who use government to protect them from competition. In fact, the > Institute for Justice has current court battles against restrictions on tour > guides, eyebrow threading and interior designing, as well as several more > found at its website (http://ij.org/economicliberty). The Institute for > Justice has had remarkable success in lawsuits, breaking many economic > barriers, such as those against hair braiding in Arizona, Minnesota, > Mississippi, Ohio and California and taxi restrictions in Denver, > Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. > Arbitrary licensing and permitting laws foreclose many occupations that are > ideally suited to people of modest means, particularly minorities. Here's my > bet: Ask any liberal politician, from the president and the Congressional > Black Caucus to civil rights organizations and black local politicians, > whether he'd take up the fight to eliminate these barriers to upward > mobility. You'll get answers, but they won't be a simple yes. The reason is > the ins contribute to their political campaigns and the outs don't.Walter E. > Williamsis a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out > more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate > writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page > atwww.creators.com.http://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/cruel-laws.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
