Should Medical Licensing be Abolished?
I speak with independent journalist Jeremy R Hammond
If you think that there's something necessary or good about medical licensing, you might want to tune in to this episode. In it, independent journalist Jeremy R Hammond and I demolish some of the myths around medical licensing. You might be surprised by what you hear.
Jeremy's articles on "Why Medical Licensing Should be Eliminated" can be found here and here.
And here is some of the analysis we referenced:
Ronald Hamowy, “The Early Development of Medical Licensing Laws in the United States, 1875-1900”, Journal of Libertarian Studies, 1979, .
Sue A. Blevins, “The Medical Monopoly: Protecting Consumers or Limiting Competition?” Cato Institute Policy Analysis, December 15, 1995, .
Charles H. Baron, “Licensure of Health Care Professionals: The Consumer’s Case for Abolition”, American Journal of Law & Medicine, April 29, 2021, .
Jeffrey A. Singer & Richard P. Menger, “The Coronavirus Pandemic Shows the Folly of Medical-Licensing Laws”, National Review, May 29, 2020,
Listening to this will be a good way to stimulate my brain as I do some house cleaning later.
However, I wanted to jump in and relate a conversation I had about regulation of restaurants, as I feel it pertains to the general concept of trusting and allowing the government to determine what should and should not be done to keep people safe.
My friends and I visited a restaurant to support its owner's decision to remain open when the Michigan Department of Health declared that no restaurants were allowed to offer in-person dining. She had taken a risk, but was hoping that enough people would choose to eat there to keep her business afloat.
We talked about the fact that the state should not have the authority to close private businesses, and that people could make their own risk assessments and choose whether or not to eat out. But when I suggested that the state had no authority to regulate restaurants in *any* way, she was taken aback. Surely we needed these regulatory agencies to ensure that safe food handling practices were followed. The example she gave to support that view actually supported mine. She said that she had attended an auction at a restaurant that had gone out of business and was trying to liquidate to pay some of its debts. She described how disgustingly dirty the equipment was, and held that up as an example of why we need regulation. But that situation happened *in spite of* the existing regulations.
I guess someone could still argue that we just need to pour even more money into the system, or that without regulation, it would be even worse, and even more restaurants would be cutting corners on cleanliness and food safety.
Kind of reminds me of the covid shot campaign. We just need even more people to take even more shots. And when they get covid anyhow, at least they were vaccinated; it would have been so much worse otherwise.
Great that you discussed the marriage license. Marriage licensing is laughable to me, as a person who believes marriage is a sacrament. Why would I ask Satan (government) for permission to celebrate a Christian sacrament?