Matt Schonert's Blog

Last week, the Michigan Department of Human Services ordered a West Michigan mother to stop babysitting her neighbor’s two children each morning before they board the school bus. Lisa Snyder said she watches the children for less than an hour and receives no compensation. Around the same time as Snyder’s run-in with the nanny state, UK officials confronted two working mothers who cared for each other’s children on a reciprocal basis. The women, both police officers with Thames Valley Police, are said to have violated the 2006 Childcare Act, which requires non-relatives to pay a $164 annual fee, attend training sessions, and conduct risk assessments in order to be registered as childminders.

Although Britons are growing used to the Orwellian way of life, few Americans would expect that a mother could be threatened with fines and imprisonment for watching a friend’s children without a commercial license from the state. Thanks to occupational licensing laws, the state can protect us from good neighbors like Ms. Snyder. She suspects that a close acquaintance reported her “illegal daycare” to the authorities. She alludes to a personal vendetta, but it just as likely might have been a jilted day care provider who lost a customer thanks to Ms. Snyder’s generosity, or an industry shill who wanted to send a message to unlicensed providers.

Of course it is within reason to regulate and license some professions, particularly those where liability or human welfare is a concern, such as medicine, debt collection, and indeed, child care. But a quick look at Michigan’s Licensing Services portal confirms that regulation is not limited to these critical professions. The State of Michigan licenses 116 occupations, making it one of the most heavily regulated states in the country – ranked 6th overall, according to a Reason Foundation policy study. It is unlikely that all of these occupations are regulated out of necessity, especially when one considers that occupational licensing is often nothing more than a form of industry protectionism. Often enacted at the behest of industry lobby groups, these laws restrict competition by creating procedural and financial barriers that shut out people without the means to acquire a license.

Those who dare to ignore the laws face substantial fines and in some cases, incarceration. This may seem unfair, but without such harsh penalties, how will be be spared the ineptness of unlicensed interior designers, auctioneers, and hair braiders? How will we punish the college dorm resident who gives $2 haircuts? We might as well prohibit any activity which causes powerful lobbying organizations and their protected constituents to lose profits. The Louisiana State Florists’ Association succeeded in this task when the Bayou State became the first nationwide to require a florist license. Aspiring florists must pass a test with a failure rate that exceeds that of the state bar exam and is written by the florist’s association itself. It is true that public safety is sometimes a motive for regulation, but greed is the perennial factor.

UPDATE: By a unanimous vote in each chamber, the Michigan House and Senate passed legislation which exempts free babysitting from the license requirement. (12 Nov. 2009)

Popularity: 47% [?]

Here is the list of countries which carried out executions in 2006, courtesy of Amnesty International:

• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Botswana
• China
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Japan
• Jordan
• Korea (North)
• Kuwait
• Malaysia
• Mongolia
• Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Syria
• Uganda
• United States of America
• Viet Nam
• Yemen

Stats for 2007 were not available.

Facts & Observations:

There were no executions recorded in the Western world except for the 53 persons killed by federal and state governments in the United States.

Of the world’s 1,591 documented executions, 1,010 were by China. An additional 6,500 to 7,000 undocumented Chinese killings are estimated by “credible sources”. (The official count is a state secret.)

The top five executioners are (in order): China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, and Sudan. The United States is next in line. These six nations account for 92% of the world’s executions.

Popularity: 1% [?]