… how many more physicians would there be today absent government licensing requirements restricting who can practice medicine? And what medical services – and which creative treatment ideas – are we now not getting as a consequence of restrictive licensing?
(Please – especially for those of you who are new to Cafe Hayek – don’t react in horror by asserting that by asking these questions I overlook the damage that would, with fewer such licensing requirements, be inflicted on innocent people. I find it absurd to suppose that more than a minuscule number of people would, in a more competitive setting, fail to seek out reliable information on the quality of individual physicians. I find it equally absurd to believe that profit-seeking entrepreneurs would fail to supply such information. People routinely seek out, and are supplied with, quite reliable information about the quality of restaurants. Why would they not do the same – and with even more careful attention – when choosing which physicians to use?)
