"The Licensing Racket is a critique of the US system of professional licensing boards, which oversee a range of occupations and tens of millions of workers. The book combines legal and economic research with nearly two hundred interviews and observation of licensing board meetings, treating jobs like hairdressing alongside medicine and law as covered by "professional licensing." Rebecca Haw Allensworth goes beyond criticism of licensing as a form of "red tape" that burdens entrepreneurs and raises costs for consumers to argue that the system fails to competently enforce standards of professional ethics and safety. She concludes by outlining principles that should guide policy and proposals for state and federal reform"-- Provided by publisher.