Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't by John Jr. (books that read to you TXT) 📕

Thirty-nine states exclude new barbers from the profession unless they attend a barbering school, usually for at least nine months.62 Becoming a cosmetologist typically takes even longer.63 Similar regulations exist for professions as diverse as addiction counselors, dental hygienists, electrologists, interior designers, morticians, nail technicians, nurses, and polygraph examiners.64 Students who went to class may still be disqualified from practicing their trade if their class attendance was unsatisfactory; twenty-two states require 100 percent class attendance rates just to get a real estate license.65

Contrast these rules with those governing the acquisition of Ph.D.s. Here there are no state-imposed restrictions or minimum time limits for completing the course of study. A few amazing students finish their coursework and dissertations in just a few years, but most need a much longer time. In economics, students take an average of five-and-a-half years to complete a Ph.D., with 1 percent finishing in less than three years. On the other hand, the slowest 10 percent take eight years or longer, with some taking over twenty years.66

Thus, Ph.D. candidates are allowed to prove their energy and competency by completing their degrees quickly. This becomes a strong selling point to potential employers, who look favorably on such highly motivated job applicants. In academia, I frequently heard professors boasting among themselves as to who was able to complete their program fastest. It is a simple and obvious sign that a student is smart and dedicated.

This explains why universities don’t require Ph.D. candidates to take some minimum amount of time to complete their degrees, as is the case with so many licensing professions. Such requirements would make it impossible for some of the best candidates to prove their worth by finishing their classes and dissertations quickly. The smartest students would be discouraged from working fast, while slower students would not be affected.

Let’s take another look at the real estate profession. The real estate agent’s exam centers on relatively straightforward questions involving basic mathematical calculations or real estate law. Many people could pass the test after briefly studying on their own, but this is prohibited by class requirements for aspiring real estate agents. What is the impact of these requirements? Some very smart people are discouraged from joining the profession. They could easily pass the licensing exam, but they won’t do it if they first have to sit through nine months of classes, as required in Pennsylvania.

Here is a personal example. I have taught at major universities such as the University of Chicago Law School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, and Rice University. I have taught all levels of students from freshmen to Ph.D. candidates. But in my academic career, I discovered that there is one thing I cannot do: I can’t teach public high school students. It’s not that the students are incapable of following the lecture or that I wouldn’t enjoy the work; for the last few years, I have occasionally guest lectured for a statistics class at my sons’ high school. The problem is this: I am banned from getting a full-time job teaching in public high schools because I have not taken the required number of years of “teacher training” courses.

Most states require either an undergraduate degree in education or two to three years of training classes before a person can be certified as a public school teacher. These regulations discourage a lot of capable people from entering the profession. For this reason, some states such as Arkansas now allow public school teachers to work toward their teacher’s certificate on the job. This is especially encouraged among science and math teachers, of whom there are real shortages. Misty Hern, a private school teacher with a degree in biological sciences, shows how the disincentive of class requirements discourages qualified teachers from working at public schools. Ms. Hern told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that she’d like to earn the higher salaries paid in public schools, but the class requirements kept her from entering the sector. However, she was willing to consider applying to a public school under Arkansas’ new on-the-job teacher education program. “If I went back to school to get my teaching degree, it would take three years and a lot more money,” she noted.67

I interviewed a group of administrators at professional schools, including law and medicine, as to why their students are required to take a certain amount of time to get through school.68 Most respondents replied either that it is an arbitrary requirement, or that the American Bar Association or the American Medical Association mandates it. A few argued that a time requirement is needed because classes have to be taken in a certain order. One wonders, then, why such a rule is necessary for professionals ranging from lawyers to barbers, but not for Ph.D.-credentialed specialists like economists and scientists. Taking classes out of order may increase the difficulty of the coursework, but if a hardworking student taking extra classes each semester ends his schooling with a B average, shouldn’t we assume he has mastered the material just as well as a student taking fewer classes each semester who earns the same grades?

Some administrators defended class requirements by insisting that certain skills are difficult to test, especially in medicine. Here’s their argument: clinical, surgical, and laboratory skills are difficult to evaluate through written exams. True, practical skills are appraised during the licensing process through a range of tests that cover everything from diagnostic skills to bedside manners.69 Still, these skills are better evaluated by observing the prospective physician over a long period of time in a classroom setting.

This argument, however, does not justify limits on how quickly a student can finish his course load; it only puts forward a plausible case for mandatory classes for aspiring healthcare professionals. But this is an exception that does not apply to most other professions that use time requirements to regulate entry into the field. What, for example, prevents licensing boards from adequately testing would-be barbers’ hair cutting abilities