"Attempts to present a systematic discussion of the major benefits and costs of occupational licensing to the economies of the United States and several European countries." - page xiii.

In this book, the author examines why the institution of occupational licensing has had such a curious evolution and influence in the United States, the European Union, and China, and discusses the many similarities it has to guilds.

S. David Young argues that occupational licensing results in the misallocation of labor and harms consumers.

Monograph investigating licensing practices and policies in the USA with respect to occupational qualification - covers paramedical personnel, construction workers, transport workers and service sector occupations, and includes recommendations for improving the institutional framework and the effectiveness of licensing examination and tests. Bibliography pp. 250 to 252.

America’s founders thought the right to earn a living was so basic and obvious that it didn’t need to be mentioned in the Bill of Rights. The Right to Earn a Living charts the history of this fundamental human right, from the constitutional system that was designed to protect it by limiting government’s powers, to the Civil War Amendments that expanded protection to all Americans, regardless of race.