You wouldn’t want a heart transplant from an unlicensed surgeon, right? But do you care whether your car salesman, barber or burglar alarm installer has been certified by a state-appointed board? An astonishing one worker in five in the U.S. – up from one in 20 in the 1950s – must pass a state licensing hurdle, which according to (unlicensed) economists reduces the work force by about 3 million and costs consumers $200 billion annually.

Loads has been written on the subject, most of it leaning hard toward the conclusion “off with their heads.” Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt and author of The Licensing Racket, doesn’t disagree, but moves the argument a giant step forward by asking what can be done to fix the licensing mess without throwing the proverbial babies out with the bathwater. Here, we excerpt her nuanced, accessible analysis, focusing on her home state of Tennessee.

— Peter Passell

Published October 24, 2025